MOSCOW, April 23 The International Olympic Committee was afraid of the BRICS Games, seeing them as a competitor for sponsorship contracts, said Deputy Speaker of the State Duma and President of the Russian Table Tennis Federation (FNTR) Alexander Babakov.
Earlier, the head of the Venezuelan delegation, Deputy Minister of Sports and Youth of Venezuela Pablo Alfonso Justiz Araujo said that the participation of Venezuelan athletes in the BRICS Games is associated with pressure from the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The BRICS Games will take place in Kazan on June 12-23. About five thousand athletes from more than 60 countries will take part in the competition, who will compete for 389 sets of medals.
Babakov noted that this year the FNTR will receive foreign guests at two major international competitions – the BRICS Games and the Friendship Games.
“In a situation where all the foundations and principles of the Olympic Charter are betrayed by the leadership of the IOC for the sake of the political situation, the BRICS Games can become a new sports institution, alternative to the Olympic Games… Another proof of this is the fact that the IOC was scared to death of its new competitor, because they understand that together with the BRICS countries, sponsors from the BRICS countries will come to these games,” Babakov said.
The BRICS countries today account for more than 50% of global GDP, he added.
“The IOC monopoly is ending, just as the unipolar world led by the United States has ceased to exist, and the IOC leadership led by Thomas Bach is finding it difficult to come to terms with this,” the politician continued.
He noted that to date, more than 60 countries have confirmed their participation in the BRICS Games, and 16 countries have already confirmed their participation in table tennis competitions: China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Ethiopia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Abkhazia, Belarus, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Congo, Afghanistan, Serbia, Tajikistan.
Table tennis competitions will be held on June 11-17 in Kazan at the Boxing and Table Tennis Center sports complex in singles for men and women, as well as in team competitions, the politician added.
In March, the IOC published a declaration against the politicization of sports, in which it called for refusal to participate in the Friendship Games, which are scheduled for September 15-29, 2024 in Moscow and Yekaterinburg. Earlier, James McLeod, director of the IOC's Department of Relations with National Olympic Committees (NOCs), said that the IOC asks the NOCs of various countries to “exercise caution in relation to the World Friendship Games.” The head of WADA, Witold Banka, noted that the possible participation of signatories of the WADA code in the Friendship Games could entail consequences.
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