Explainer | What are the Russia-backed World Friendship Games, and why are they back after 40 years?
- With athletes from Russia and Belarus banned from the Olympics, officials have relaunched an event last seen during the Cold War
Outcasts in the sporting world because of state-sponsored doping and their country’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian athletes are unable to compete at the Olympics unless they do so under a neutral flag.
Belarussians are also being punished for their country’s stance in the conflict, and the re-emergence of the World Friendship Games is an alternative stage for the two nations and their allies to compete.
This is not the first time this sporting event has been held, with its first edition held in 1984. Originally scheduled to take place this September, organisers have now pushed it back to 2025.
What is the history of the Friendship Games?
Next year will mark the second edition of the Friendship Games. Its first edition, commonly known as Friendship-84, was held in the Soviet Union and eight other Eastern Bloc nations.
It served as an alternative to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which these countries boycotted.
Although organisers of the Friendship Games denied it was a “counter-Olympic” event, it was still frequently referred to as the “alternative Olympics” for the Soviet Union’s camp.
