Following in the footsteps of Russia with its BRICS Games, Belarus is now challenging the IOC and the Olympic movement by staging an international multi-sport competition on its soil. Its capital, Minsk, hosts the second edition of the CIS Games, the Commonwealth of Independent States, from this Friday August 4. According to the First Deputy Minister of Sport and Tourism, Alexander Dorokhovich, the event will bring together over 2,200 athletes representing 22 countries. However, the Belarusian leader did not specify which nations would be represented at the event, which will be held for the first time in Kazan in 2021. “To date, 2,214 athletes from 22 countries have registered to take part in the second CIS Games,” said Alexander Dorokhovich, quoted by the BelTA news agency. According to the Belarusian minister, 500 athletes have already arrived in the country. The second CIS Games, which run until August 14, will be held mainly in Minsk, with events also scheduled in 11 other Belarusian cities.
