CARACAS, April 21. /TASS/. The fifth games of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), in which Russian athletes will take part for the first time, will begin in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Friday.

The schedule of the games lists competitions in 35 sports. About 3,500 athletes from 11 countries are expected to participate.

For the first time ever, this year’s event will be held in an open format, with the participation of Russian athletes.

The Russian delegation to the event includes 48 athletes, competing in seven disciplines: boxing, beach volleyball, karate, table tennis, weightlifting, trampolining and rhythmic gymnastics.

The games will continue until April 29.

The first group of 36 Russian athletes arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday. During the welcoming ceremony at Venezuela’s National Sports Institute in Caracas, the Russian flag was hoisted and the Russian anthem was played.

Deputy Sports Minister Alexey Morozov said during the event: in fact, it was the first time for quite a while for us to compete as the Russian national team, with our flag and our anthem," he said. "You have our special thanks for that. This is very important for us and for most of our fans all over the world."

Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov, in turn, stressed at the ceremony that in Venezuela the Russian athletes would be competing under their national flag "for the first time since the beginning of the aggressive Western campaign to 'cancel’ Russian sports."

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin arrived on a visit in Venezuela on Thursday to participate in the opening ceremony of the ALBA Games.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) was established on December 14, 2004 at the initiative of then-President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez and the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro. ALBA’s 10 member states are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela.

The first ALBA games were hosted by Cuba in 2005. The 2009 Games were held in Havana as well. The Second and Fourth Games, in 2007 and 2011, took place in Venezuela.