Friendship Games: supposed to compete with the Olympic Games, Vladimir Putin gives up on organizing them

Poutine a fait marche arrière. REUTERS POOL – GONZALO FUENTES/POOL

Le président russe Vladimir Poutine a annoncé lundi 2 décembre, dans un décret, renoncer à organiser ses Jeux de l’Amitié censés concurrencer les Jeux Olympiques et qui étaient prévus initialement cette année.

Relations between Moscow and world sporting bodies have been consumed for several years by a multitude of conflicts, from the state doping scandal in Russia to verbal escalations, espousing geopolitical tensions. They have been polar with the IOC since the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine in February 2022.

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“In order to defend the rights of athletes and sports organizations to free access to international sports activities”, Mr. Putin ordered to “postpone until a special decision” the holding of the World Friendship Games, according to this decree published on the official website of the legal documents of the Russian government.

The Russian president had ordered a year ago to organize these Games which he praised as an alternative to the Olympic Games, in the context of the offensive in Ukraine which led to a rain of Western sanctions against Moscow, and which were planned for September in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, in the Urals.

Russia on the sidelines of world sport

However, they never took place, without any official explanation being provided by the authorities. Russia, ostracized from world sport for its assault on Ukraine, was barred as a nation from the Olympic Games in Paris this summer and was represented by only a small team of 15 athletes, competing under a neutral banner, after a very strict selection process.

Athletes allowed to compete had to show that they had not supported the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and that they did not belong to a sports club linked to the armed forces or security forces, as is sometimes the case in Russia.

Deprived of their flag and anthem in the French capital, many Russian athletes chose to withdraw from the competitions, denouncing “discriminatory” criteria. The IOC had accused Russia before the Paris Olympics of “politicizing” sport, and saw in the potential organization of the Friendship Games “a cynical attempt” to exploit the athletes “for political propaganda purposes”.