ST. PETERSBURG, June 6. /TASS/. A jury of experts has decided to give the name "Dobryak" to the tiger mascot of the 2024 World Friendship Games, which are set to be held in Russia this fall, Director General of the Friendship Games Organizing Committee Alexey Sorokin said on Thursday.

"The expert jury has named the official mascot of the World Friendship Games," Sorokin said speaking on the sidelines of the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "His name is Dobryak [roughly translated as ‘Mr. Nice Guy’]."

Later in the day, the official website of the tournament confirmed in its statement that: "The World Friendship Games mascot has been named Dobryak."

The name of the mascot of the World Friendship Games was chosen by a jury headed by Umar Kremlev, who serves as the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Games Organizing Committee. The shortlist of possible names included TigRasha, SporTiger and Dobryak.

"Dobryak received an absolute majority of votes," the statement reads.

In early March, the official website of the tournament reported that a tiger was selected to be the mascot of the World Friendship Games in Russia beating two of his closest contenders, who were a squirrel and a bear.

"The jury members had to choose between a tiger, a bear and a squirrel. The winner was determined following a hard and uncompromising contest. The tiger was just a few votes ahead of his competitors," the official statement from the World Friendship Games organizers reads.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is held on June 5-8. This year’s theme is "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World."

Scheduled events include meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the information partner of the event.

2024 World Friendship Games

Moscow and Yekaterinburg in Russia’s Urals region are slated to co-host the 2024 World Friendship Games on September 15-29.

In December 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cautioned National Olympic Committees (NOCs) against participating in the World Friendship Games in Russia next year, as this would violate the global Olympic body’s recommendations.

Last November, WADA chief Banka warned that certain sanctions could be in place against international athletes willing to participate in the 2024 World Friendship Games. He said in particular that: "The possible participation in those competitions of those who are parties to the WADA Code, may have certain consequences."