The Brics bring together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The opening ceremony of these Games takes place on Wednesday in Kazan, Russia.
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Russia will not be present at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, apart from a few rare athletes under a neutral banner due to the country’s exclusion from most international competitions. However, Vladimir Putin’s regime is not giving up on existing on the international scene, sport having always been a matter of power in Russia. A demonstration will be given from Wednesday June 12 in Kazan, with the opening ceremony of the Brics Games, this acronym which brings together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. These Games should also bring together many more nations, but few stars of world sport will be present apart from the Russians. However, the Russian government will still try to make it a showcase.
Nearly 5,000 athletes and 90 countries will be represented in around thirty sports. For the Kremlin, these BRICS Games in Kazan are an opportunity to show that it can free itself from the “diktat” of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the Russian press said on Tuesday. In detail, the reality is less brilliant. Some countries are not recognized by the international community, others will only have one representative and alongside swimming or athletics there will be more baroque disciplines such as acrobatic rock or kurach, a wrestling match. ‘Central Asia.
But the objective is elsewhere, as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explains. “The BRICS Sports Games are designed as a complement to the Olympic movement, given that this movement is transforming into an instrument of Western politics, he believes. The Games will therefore be open to all athletes in compliance with the Olympic charter, and the IOC will have to learn lessons from this.”
The IOC especially condemned the organization of sporting events for political purposes, such as these Brics Games, or the Friendship Games that Moscow wants to organize in September. The IOC advises athletes against participating. In fact, in Kazan this week, there will be very few top athletes.
