President Emomali Rahmon today departed for the Russian city of Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan Republic, to attend an official opening ceremony of the Games of the Future at invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.  

The Tajik president’s official website says deputy prime minister, foreign minister, presidential aides for international ties and social development, as well as the minister of industry and new technologies “are accompanying the head of state on this working.” 

However, it is not yet known whether Emomali Rahmon will hold meetings with his counterparts from the CIS member nations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his visit to Kazan.

The presidents of Kazakhstan (Kassym-Jomart Tokayev), Kyrgyzstan (Sadyr Japarov) and Uzbekistan (Shavkat Mirziyoyev) have also arrived in Kazan to attend the official opening ceremony of the Games of the Future.

Japarov’s press service says that while in Kazan, Kyrgyz leader is planned to hold meetings with Putin and Tatarstan’s head Rustam Minnikhanov.

TASS reports that In late 2023, the Russian president invited the leaders of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries to attend the opening ceremony of the Games of the Future in Kazan. Putin said at the time that the innovative tournament will “combine more dynamic sports events and cybersports.”  He also stressed that sports and physical culture were an integral part of humanitarian cooperation.

The Games will feature entirely new sports disciplines combining advanced technology, the digital environment and physical activity.

Russian media reports say Kazan will host the Games of the Future between February 21 and March 3, 2024.  The Games will feature entirely new sports disciplines combining advanced technology, the digital environment and physical activity.  The competitions are designed to use cutting-edge developments in cybersports, robotics, both augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR), information technology (IT) and artificial intelligence (AI). Some 2,000 athletes from over 100 countries are set to compete in 21 innovative sports disciplines.

The firebird of peace will be the mascot of the first Games of the Future in Kazan. The mascot was designed by students from Tatarstan and St. Petersburg State University.