WeeklySA_AdminBRICS: Members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are expected to compete in the multi-sport event in Kazan in June 2024…
By Geoff Berkeley
The Russian Sports Ministry has revealed that the BRICS Games will be staged in June next year – just one month before the start of the Olympics in Paris. Russian city Kazan has been chosen as host of the event that is expected to be participated by member nations of BRICS – a political alliance comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
A tentative programme featuring 22 sports has also been approved by the Russian Sports Ministry, with competition due to be staged across 12 venues in Kazan, but details on the disciplines have yet to be revealed.
The plans for the Games were announced in a report by Russia’s official state news agency TASS after the country’s Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin participated in a meeting with his counterparts from BRICS members in South Africa.
“Under the current conditions, the role of BRICS in helping to resolve global issues, including in sports, is growing,” said Matytsin.
“Our association remains an example of true multilateralism and respect for each other. “We consistently stand for the comprehensive strengthening of friendly sports ties with the BRICS countries – based on the principles of equality, lack of discrimination, mutual respect and equal admission of athletes to competitions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the idea of staging the BRICS Games “Now more than ever it is important to strengthen our cooperation in the BRICS, to develop new formats of interstate sports events.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed his Government in May to submit proposals for organising the multi-sport event. Association of Summer Olympic International Federations President Francesco Ricci Bitti has warned Russia against any “very contentious” plans to stage rebel events outside of the Olympic Movement
According to TASS, Matytsin stressed that the BRICS Games were not alternative competitions and would not unsettle the global sporting calendar.
The Russian Sports Minister also backed plans by South Africa to create a “BRICS Sports Charter” and said there were also proposals to stage other BRICS events. “The BRICS Sports Charter will set out the basic principles for the development of sports in the area of association,” said Matytsin.
“Cooperation in individual sports opens up broad prospects. “To this end, we propose to consider the possibility of establishing BRICS championships and professional leagues.” Russia has previously spoke about plans to hold the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Games.
SCO is another intergovernmental organisation which comprises of Russia, China, India and Pakistan as well as the Central Asian former Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Rebel events competing with the Olympic Games is a nightmare scenario for the International Olympic Committee IOC, especially if global superpowers like Russia and China are involved.
Discussions over hosting events outside of the Olympic Movement were regularly on the agenda in Russia when the country’s athletes were largely frozen out of international sport in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
The IOC recommended in March that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to return to international competition as neutrals, provided they do not support the war in Ukraine and are not affiliated with the military.
A decision on participation for Paris 2024 has yet to be made but International Federations have been divided in their response to the IOC’s change in stance. Russia has already held a Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics replacement event in Khanty-Mansiysk, attended by five countries.
A multi-sport event known as the Friendship Games was organised by the Soviet Union and eight of its allies in 1984 after the country boycotted the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. – Inside the Games
‘UN ADDS RUSSIA TO LIST OF SHAME’
Conflict zones: Israel conspicuously absent in citation – a big mistake, Palestinian ambassador protests…
By AFP and WSAM Reporter
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations has put Russian military forces and proxy armed groups on its “list of shame” over the killing and maiming of hundreds of children in its war against Ukraine, according to a document seen by AFP yesterday.
In an annual report on the treatment of children in conflict zones, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled by the high number of grave violations against children in Ukraine” committed in 2022.
“I am particularly shocked by the high number of attacks on schools and hospitals and protected personnel, and by the high number of children killed and maimed attributed to the Russian forces and affiliated armed groups,” Guterres said in the report, which was distributed to members of the Security Council on Thursday and seen by an AFP reporter.
According to the document, 477 children were killed in Ukraine last year, including 136 deaths attributed to Russian forces and affiliated groups and 80 to Ukrainian armed forces. A further 909 children were maimed, 518 of them by Russian forces and proxy groups and 175 by Ukrainian forces, the report said.
The report will be released publicly next week.Human Rights Watch welcomed the UN’s decision to call out Russia.
“By adding Russia’s forces to his list of shame, the Secretary-General is holding them to account for horrific violations against children,” said Jo Becker, the group’s advocacy director for children’s rights.
“Hundreds of Ukrainian children have been killed in apparently indiscriminate Russian attacks on apartment buildings and other civilian structures,” she added.
ISRAEL NOT ON LIST
Despite repeated requests from human rights organisations, Israel was not added to the shame list over the killing of dozens of Palestinian children.
Guterres noted a “meaningful decrease in the number of children killed by Israeli forces, including by air strikes” last year compared to the previous report. According to the report, 42 children were killed in 2022 by Israeli forces, compared to 78 in 2021.
“Nevertheless, I remain deeply concerned by the number of children killed and maimed by Israeli forces during hostilities,” Guterres added, “and through the use of live ammunition during law enforcement operations, and by the persistent lack of accountability for these violations.
Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called Guterres’ decision to leave Israel off the list a “big mistake”.
Becker of Human Rights Watch also criticised it. “His unwillingness year after year to hold Israeli forces accountable for their grave violations against children has backfired, only emboldening Israeli forces to use unlawful lethal force against Palestinian children,” Becker said.
The report also condemned violence against children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Syria, Haiti and other countries.
Source: AFP/ec
