Russia plans to resume the Friendship Games after a 40-year hiatus, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matitsyn told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Matitsyn noted that the event will take place after the Paris Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

“We suggest intensifying the practice of organizing competitions in an open format with the invitation of partner countries,” the Kremlin website quotes the Russian Sports Minister as saying.

“We will continue to carry out assignments [lui Putin] organize the World Friendship Games in 2024. We believe that for the successful organization of the Games, which should be held regularly in the future, it is necessary to use the resources of both Russia and international public and state organizations as much as possible. “, he added. He declared.

His comments came as athletes from Russia and Belarus are banned from many international competitions because of the war of aggression launched by Vladimir Putin last year and backed by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

Some international federations that organize Olympic sports, including archery, canoeing, fencing, judo, modern pentathlon, table tennis and taekwondo, welcomed the return of athletes from Russia, but not athletics.

The International Olympic Committee recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete again, provided that they do not compete under the Russian flag.

Russia wants to make its own Olympic Games, as in the times of the USSR

However, the final decision regarding their participation in the Olympic Games in Paris has not yet been made. However, Russia condemned the Olympic Committee’s recommendations as “excessive” and “discriminatory.”

Last year, Russia organized a competition called the “Solidarity Games” with the aim of “strengthening friendly international ties between states.”

The Friendship Games, which Russia wants to host again, were first held in 1984, when the Soviet Union and other communist bloc countries boycotted the summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

About 50 countries participated in the games organized by the USSR, Soviet athletes won 126 gold medals, and East Germany took second place in the final standings with 50 gold medals.

On the other hand, Romania participated in the Olympic Games organized in the USA, winning 20 gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze medals, ranking 8th in the medal ranking of countries.