IGORA /Leningrad Region/. December 25. /TASS/. The organization of sports tournaments between member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) may be a response to the global politicization of sports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
"Sports exchanges are becoming more widespread, with various levels of tournaments organized regularly, and new competition formats emerging and continuing to develop, including those combining traditional disciplines with modern technologies," Putin stated during the CIS informal summit in St. Petersburg.
Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, is hosting on December 25-26 an informal meeting of CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States) leaders and the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
The Russian president added that such a shift is "necessary given the current politicization of this [sports] sphere."
The Russian president also mentioned that the CIS member states had previously sent their national teams to participate in the "Games of the Future, BRICS Games, as well as the Children of Asia Games and the Silk Way Rally."
The 2024 BRICS Games (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) were held in Kazan from June 12 to 23 and featured competitions in 27 different sports. The BRICS Games are an annual multi-sport tournament organized by the country holding the rotating chair of the association.
For the first time, athletes from countries beyond the BRICS member states participated in this year’s event in Kazan. In total, athletes from over 80 countries took part in the 2024 BRICS Games this summer.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
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.