MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. Some 20,000 tickets have been already sold for the 2024 BRICS Games, which kick off in Russia in less than a month, Tatarstan Minister of Sports Vladimir Leonov said on Tuesday.
Ticket sales for this summer’s 2024 BRICS Games in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, were launched late last month.
"We [Kazan] have vast experience regarding programs on tickets sales, but this is for the first time in my practice to witness such high demand with only about a month to go before the tournament," Leonov told journalists. "As of today, some 20,000 out of 100,000 tickets on the offer have been already sold."
"This is a very solid figure for a new tournament, which kicks off in a month," he continued adding that the bulk of the already sold tickets went to residents of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod.
"On the whole, tickets are being sold not only within our country, but abroad as well and we are tracking this process in the on-line mode. If speaking about the ticket sales abroad, they are much higher on the territory of the CIS [the Commonwealth of Independent States] member states compared to other countries," Leonov added.
The press office of the Tatarstan Sports Ministry announced on April 23 the launch of ticket sales for the 2024 BRICS Games. According to the ministry, ticket prices range between 100 and 300 rubles (between $1 and 3). Tickets for the rest of the event’s sports competitions are expected to go on sale later.
The 2024 BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Games will be held in Kazan on June 12-23 and will feature events in 20 different sports.
In mid-May 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to submit proposals for organizing and holding the 2024 BRICS Games in Russia.
Oleg Matytsin, who served as the Russian sports minister at that time, emphasized later that the BRICS Games were not meant to rival any other competitions and would not interfere with the international sports calendar as well as with the IOC-approved calendar of events.
In April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid an official visit to China, where he stated that the 2024 BRICS Games and the following World Friendship Games in Russia would be organized based on the principles enshrined by International Olympic Committee (IOC) Charter.