Russia will welcome athletes from more than 20 countries when it hosts the ‘Friendship Games’ in the city of Kazan next month, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko has said.
The games will be held from November 10 to 25, and will see more than 100 prizes handed out across a range of swimming and diving competitions.
The event comes as Russian athletes remain banned from a variety of international tournaments because of the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian officials, however, have compensated by organizing their own tournaments and have discussed strengthening sporting ties with nations in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SOC) and BRICS group, as well as elsewhere.
“On behalf of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, we are maintaining the level of competitive activity of our athletes,” said Chernyshenko as he discussed the ‘Friendship Games’ in a statement this week.
