BRICS Games 2024: 97 nations, 5000 athletes to participate in mega sports event in Russia’s Kazan

More than 4,000 foreign participants from 97 countries are expected at the BRICS Games in Kazan, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said following a meeting of the organising committee for the preparation and holding of the BRICS Games. This is reported by the official website of the Russian Government, according to Russian media agency

“The BRICS Games, held on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin, are an important component of our country’s presidency plan in the association, and 97 countries have already confirmed their participation in them,” the official said. Russia has also developed and proposed to its partners the BRICS Kazan Sports Charter.

The charter regulates the goals, principles and directions of sports cooperation in the BRICS space, provides for the mechanism of their implementation, as well as the conditions of holding games by the country-chairman of the association, as reported by Russian media agency. The BRICS sports ministers’ meeting scheduled for June 22 will bring together representatives from China, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, India, South Africa and Brazil.

Russian Deputy Sports Minister Alexey Morozov said about 4,000 participants from other countries are expected at the BRICS Games. “We expect about 5,000 participants, including more than 4,000 foreign participants. On behalf of the organising committee, the Russian Sports Ministry has formed the final sports programme taking into account the applications received. It includes 27 sports,” Morozov said.

The BRICS Games will be held in the capital of Tatarstan from 12 to 23 June. The list of participants of the sporting event includes more than 50 countries, including Kazakhstan, Turkey, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bahrain, Congo and others. 380 sets of awards in 29 disciplines will be played at the competitions, TV BRICS reported.

The first BRICS games in three sports were held at the summits in 2017−2018: Guangzhou (China) basketball, volleyball, and wushu, Johannesburg (South Africa) football, volleyball, and netball. The first football tournament among the BRICS member countries was held in 2016 under India’s chairmanship.

Following the success of the first BRICS Games in 2018, the decision was made to expand the traditional sports games programme to include the national sports of the participating countries. In 2020, following the results of the first BRICS Sport Ministers Meeting, a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of physical education and sport was adopted, which, among other things, provides for the holding of the annual BRICS Sports Games by the chair country.