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NEW DELHI (AP) — Russia on Wednesday offered to host a new multi-sport event for countries like China and India that are members of a regional grouping known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously suggested creating the event at a SCO summit in September. His suggestion came at a time when Russia is barred from many Olympic sporting events following its invasion of Ukraine last year.
Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin offered to host the so-called SCO Games in Russia during a meeting with sports officials from other SCO nations in India on Wednesday, his ministry said in a statement.
Moscow and Beijing created the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also includes India, Pakistan and four former Soviet nations in Central Asia, as a counterweight to US influence. The group has held regular summits and organized joint military exercises.
Matytsin’s comments did not contain any details on when the event might take place, its scale or whether it would be intended to rival the Olympics.
Russia is already involved in other regional multi-sport events on a relatively modest scale. Russia developed and hosted the first CIS Games in 2021 for nine countries from the former Soviet Union, a competition largely overshadowed by the Tokyo Olympics held a few weeks earlier. There’s also the Russia-China Youth Games, a junior event which Matytsin said in December could be expanded to include other SCO countries.
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