Sports

Putin shelves 'World Friendship Games' meant to rival Olympics

Russia had accused IOC of ‘neo-Nazism’ for banning its athletes and those of its ally Belarus from competing under their national flags in Paris

Putin shelves 'World Friendship Games' meant to rival Olympics

Presentation of the mascot of the World Friendship Games.

Photo courtesy: wyffest.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed until further notice the World Friendship Games, seen as Moscow's alternative to the Olympic Games and originally meant to take place this year, according to a Kremlin decree published Monday.

The competition — widely seen as Russia's response to being banned from the Paris Olympics due to its invasion of Ukraine — was meant to take place in Yekaterinburg this September but in the summer postponed until an unspecified date in 2025.

The decree Monday said that the World Friendship Games were postponed "until a special decision" by the Russian president.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had called the Friendship Games a "cynical attempt to politicize sport" and called on countries not to participate.

Ukraine had said Moscow wanted to use the event for "propaganda" purposes.

Russia had accused the IOC of "neo-Nazism" for banning its athletes and those of its ally Belarus from competing under their national flags in Paris.

Russia had last year said it would bring back the Friendship Games held in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, when some socialist countries had boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics.

Comments

See what people are discussing

More from Sports

India names 15-member squad for Champions Trophy 2025

India names 15-member squad for Champions Trophy 2025

Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who was left out of the squad for this month's T20 series against England, was named in the squad

More from World

Trump signals 90-day TikTok ban delay as app braces for shutdown

Trump signals 90-day TikTok ban delay as app braces for shutdown

With a U.S. TikTok ban hours away, Trump suggests extending the deadline as users flock to alternative platforms