Vladmir Putin’s plans for the ‘Friendship Games’ that will rival the Olympics

Russian President Vladmir Putin has decided to postpone the initially planned ‘Friendship Games’, a multi-sports world event that is supposed to rival the Olympics. It was first organized back in 1984 where countries across the world decided to boycott the Los Angeles Olympics due to political tensions leading to the Cold War. It basically served as an alternative which hosted athletes from countries like Soviet Union and East Germany among other allies.

The Friendship Games were originally meant to commence this year only after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Russia from participating as a team after their invasion in Ukraine. Although, some Russian athletes were still allowed to participate as ‘individual neutral athletes’.

But according to a Kremlin decree published on Monday which Vladmir Putin has signed, the Friendship Games which was set to take place in Yekaterinburg this September, has been postponed until a ‘special decision’ the Russian President makes, with no set date confirmed for 2025 as of now.

As for the IOC, they view this competition purely as an attempt to politicize sport, and had already called on countries to not bother participating. Meanwhile, Russia accused the IOC of ‘neo-Nazism’ for banning them and their athletes.

Until Vladmir Putin announces this ‘special decision’, for now, everything seems in the dark for the Friendship Games to make its return once again.