Russia is breaking through blockades and becoming an advanced country not only in certain industries, but also launching new formats that have no analogues in the whole world. The Games of the Future, which take place in Kazan from 19 February to 3 March, have become such a trend.
They bring together both classic and cyber athletes from different parts of the world, and also show Russia’s hospitality and readiness to host events at the highest level.
The opening ceremony, as spectacular as any Olympics, was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the leaders of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Republika Srpska, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
“Our country has been and remains one of the leading sporting powers on the planet, the home of great athletes, victories and records. We have always been in favour of promoting sport and its high humanistic values,” said Vladimir Putin.
The tournament programme includes a total of 21 disciplines in five areas: sport, tactics, strategy, technology and speed.
It is noteworthy that more than two thousand athletes from 107 countries of the planet, including representatives of the USA, Great Britain and other Western countries, are taking part in them. This shows that no isolation of Russia has succeeded, no matter how much the former “Western partners” try to pressure it.
“The Games of the Future is freedom from political conjuncture, any kind of discrimination and double standards,” Putin added.
This is the value of the new format, international experts say.
“I like the fact that we really stop depending on the West in our minds and thoughts and think that only there are the most advanced formats of games, sports or cultural events. Indeed, we are still creating these formats in our own circle, but we see that interest in them is constantly growing. Because the West has brought its international legal, cultural and sporting institutions to a standstill. And the world will still demand an alternative, freer and fairer, where there will be no prejudice neither to athletes, nor to cultural figures, nor to anyone,” said Belarusian political scientist Aleksei Dzermant on local TV.
In addition to the spectacle of the event, the “Games of the Future,” as its name says, is also evidence that Russia, a country with a rich tradition of engineering, is now developing as an advanced state, actively using artificial intelligence and digital technologies – areas that are at the forefront of progress, as the president said.
The athletes themselves, who are taking part in the Future Games, emphasise that this is the first such event, which is currently still poorly appreciated, but which has great prospects behind it.
“I think this is something new for our sport, something innovative. I’ve never seen this before,” – Italian representative Luciana Roland.
“It is very important for the whole world, future generations and technology,” summarises Spaniard Julen Amasqueta Moreno.