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Russia offered Wednesday to host a new multi-sport event for countries such as China and India that are members of a regional group known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously suggested holding the event at the SCO summit in September. The suggestion comes as Russia is excluded from many events in Olympic sports after entering Ukraine last year.
Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin offered to host the SCO Games in Russia in a meeting with sports officials from other SCO countries in India on Wednesday, his ministry said in a statement.
Moscow and Beijing created the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization that also includes India, Pakistan and four former Soviet states in Central Asia as a counterweight to US influence. The group has held regular summits and held joint military exercises.
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Matytsin’s comments did not say when the event might take place, how big it would be, or if it would rival the Olympics.
Russia has participated in other regional multi-sport events on a relatively modest scale. Russia is developing and hosting the CIS Games in 2021 for nine former Soviet countries, a competition largely overshadowed by the Tokyo Olympics held a few weeks earlier. There will also be the Russia-China Youth Games, a junior event that Matytsin suggested in December could be expanded to include other SCO countries.
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