Good news for Russia: Brazil could be taking part in its first BRICS Games, a multi-sport event scheduled for next year in Kazan. Nothing is official yet, but the Brazilian authorities have chosen diplomatic channels to express their wish to accept Moscow’s invitation. Brazil’s ambassador to Russia, Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares, told the TASS agency: “At the beginning of January, Russia launched several events in the political, cultural and economic spheres. It is interesting for us to take part in several of them. I think our participation in the BRICS Games is possible.” The last edition of the BRICS Games was held in October in Durban, South Africa. Next year, the event will be held in Russia for the first time. It is scheduled to take place from 12 to 23 June in Kazan. An Organising Committee was officially created by decree on September 29. It is co-chaired by two well-known figures from the Olympic movement: Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Chernyshenko, former President of the Organising Committee for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, and Igor Levitin, current “presidential assistant” to the Kremlin and former President of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). The BRICS were founded in 2011 by five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It was announced at the 15th BRICS Summit in August that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would join the group on 1 January 2024.
