KAZAN, February 19. /TASS/. Some 1,400 athletes from 60 countries around the world have already arrived in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan in Russia’s Volga region, to take part in the 2024 Games of the Future, Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin said on Monday.

"As of today about 1,400 athletes from 60 countries have already arrived. In all, we are expecting over 100 countries to be represented," Metshin stated. "All venues are ready and the competitions will be held at 12 facilities. We are anxiously awaiting the opening of the Games of the Future."

The Kazan mayor pointed out the enormous interest in the upcoming tournament.

"We are on the brink of a new event in the history not only of our city of Kazan, not only of our country, but also of humanity as a whole," he continued. "Fortunately, we Kazan residents will be in the thick of it as organizers, participants and eyewitnesses."

Republic of Tatarstan Sports Minister Vladimir Leonov told journalists last week that athletes representing 277 teams hailing from 107 countries have been accredited to participate in the 2024 Games of the Future, which are set to kick off in Russia next week. Leonov added that, in total, over 2,000 participants will take part in the tournament. Athletes and cyber-athletes will compete in 21 innovative sports disciplines.

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. The Games will feature entirely new sports 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 mln 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 up until the present, with the most recent such event held in Kazan on October 5-22, 2023.