KAZAN, May 15. /TASS/. Russian silver medalist in gymnastics at the 1996 Olympic Games Yana Batyrshina and Turkish football star Gokdeniz Karadeniz, who used to play midfield for Russia’s Kazan Rubin football club, have been named ambassadors of the 2024 BRICS Games in Russia.

A ceremony for the new ambassadors was held as part of the 15th International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum 2024" in Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan.

"I am very glad to be an ambassador of the [2024] BRICS Games, which will be hosted by my home city, Kazan," Batyrshina said. "Kazan is one of the most sporty cities in our country and it has hosted numerous large-scale international sports events of the highest tier."

"I am sure that the BRICS Games will be remembered for a long time to come. I am extremely happy to become an ambassador and be a part of this grand event," she added.

TASS is the general information partner of the 15th International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum 2024." A TASS field studio is working on site and the "Russia - Islamic World: 15 years of cooperation" photo exhibition is open, which includes photographs by the news agency’s photo reporters reflecting the forum’s vast range of subjects.

2024 BRICS Games

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.