IOC Urges Countries Not To Participate In Russia's New Knockoff Olympics

Vladimir Putin announced in 2023 that Russia was set to start organizing summer and winter sporting events called the Friendship Games. If it sounds similar to the Olympics, that's because it is, and the International Olympic Committee isn't exactly pleased about it.

The first-ever Friendship Games are set to begin within weeks of the closing ceremony of the upcoming Paris Olympics on August 11, and with that date fast approaching, the IOC has officially come out against what it is calling an attempt to bring politics into sports. Sportswashing is another term that immediately comes to mind, seeing as how Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the Friendship Games could serve as a (very minor) distraction, so to speak.

"The IOC strongly urges all stakeholders of the Olympic movement and all governments to reject any participation in, and support of, any initiative that intends to fully politicize international sport," the IOC said in a statement.

The IOC's denouncement of the games comes four months after Russian diplomat Maria Zabolotskaya used her platform at the United Nations in New York to invite the world to participate in the Friendship Games. She used the words "honest and fair competitions" during her promotion.

One stark difference between the Friendship Games and the Olympics is the money involved. 

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The IOC does not pay prize money to medalists, but Russia has reportedly accumulated a prize fund of $50 million to pay competitors. Athletes and countries who do elect to participate in the games would immediately be met with a public relations nightmare, but as everyone can agree, money talks.

Not only could you label the creation of the Friendship Games as a form of sportswashing, but as a direct response to Russia being excluded from all team sports at the Olympics. Russian athletes looking to compete on the individual level have an avenue to do so, but must pass two layers of vetting from both the IOC and their respective sport's governing bodies.

The 25-50 Russian athletes who are expected to be in Paris for the Summer Games will have to compete without their national symbol, flags, and anthem.

The first Friendship Games are scheduled in Moscow and Yekaterinburg in September.