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Putin invites CIS leaders to attend opening ceremony of 2024 Games of the Future in Kazan

Russian President Putin is hosting CIS leaders for an informal pre-New Year summit in St. Petersburg on December 26

SAINT PETERSBURG, December 26. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries to attend the opening ceremony of the 2024 Games of the Future.

"In February next year our city of Kazan is set to host innovative tournament ‘The Games of the Future’," Putin said opening an informal meeting of the CIS leaders in St. Petersburg. "This is Russia’s proposed format of athletic events that combine a set of more dynamic sports events and cybersports."

"I would like to invite all of you to attend as honorary guests the opening ceremony of the Games of the Future on February 21, 2024 in Kazan," he said.

Russian President Putin is hosting CIS leaders for an informal pre-New Year summit in St. Petersburg on December 26. The meeting is a traditional format for interaction between the heads of state, who have customarily gathered in late December for many years.

The CIS currently consists of 11 countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. However, as Putin noted, Moldova and Ukraine are de facto only nominal participants and, as such, play no active role in the intergovernmental organization’s activities.

2024 Games of the Future

The inaugural cybersport Games of the Future will be hosted by the Russian city of Kazan between February 21 and March 3, 2024. They will consist of new disciplines combining advanced technology, the digital environment and physical activity.

The competitions are designed to use cutting-edge developments in cybersports, robotics, both augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR), information technology (IT) and artificial intelligence (AI). The tournament offers $25 million in prize money.

As part of the preparations for the Games of the Future, Russia has organized a series of Phygital Games. The first Phygital Games were held in September 2022 and they were followed by numerous editions until today with the most recent one held in Kazan between October 5 and 22.

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