MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. The International Friendship Association (IFA) has proposed to postpone for one year the 2024 World Friendship Games in Russia, the tournament’s official website said in a statement on Tuesday.
"After consulting with a number of athletes and international sports federations, the International Friendship Association (IFA) has come up with the initiative to postpone the World Friendship Games to 2025," the statement reads.
"The main reason for reconsidering the Games dates is the insufficient recovery time for top athletes participating in major international tournaments in the summer of 2024," according to the tournament’s organizers.
The Russian capital of Moscow and the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia’s Urals region were scheduled to co-host the 2024 World Friendship Games on September 15-29.
"The decision to postpone the Games will allow for a more representative lineup of participants and provide the opportunity to expand the World Friendship Games program with cultural and entertainment components," the statement continued.
"If the Russian Government approves postponement of the Games, the Organizing Committee, together with the International Friendship Association, will propose new dates for the tournament," the official website of the tournament stated.
"A letter with the corresponding proposal has been sent to the Government for the preparation of the necessary documents," the statement added.
Last month, Director General of the Friendship Games Organizing Committee Alexey Sorokin announced that a jury of experts had decided to give the name "Dobryak" to the tiger mascot of the 2024 World Friendship Games. 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.
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."
IOC’s regulations against Russia
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board convened for a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 19-20 and following the opening day it decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in the Parade of Athletes and also exclude them from the 2024 Olympics overall medal standings.
The IOC, however, ruled that Russian athletes, cleared to participate in the upcoming Olympics, would not have to sign anything denouncing their country’s special military operation in Ukraine.
On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.
The Swiss-based CAS registered on November 6, 2023 an appeal from the ROC against the IOC’s decision on the Russian governing Olympic body’s suspension.
The suspension means that the ROC cannot act as a national Olympic committee or receive financing from the Olympic movement. The IOC however reserved the right to clear Russian athletes to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 as neutrals. Later, IOC President Thomas Bach said that Russian athletes should have no affiliation with the ROC if they want to compete at the Olympic Games.