Kazan, 18 February, 2024 (GNP): This is how experts assess the event that will take place in Russia from 21 February to 3 March 2024. For the first time in the history of world sport, Kazan will host the International Multisport Tournament Games of the Future.
The new format of the Games will bring together the strongest athletes of the planet, including those from Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and other countries of the Islamic world. In total, more than 2,000 participants from 277 teams representing 107 countries will take part in the tournament.
The best athletes and cyber sportsmen from all over the world will compete in 21 innovative disciplines supporting the concept of fijital, i.e. combining classic sports, cyber sports and technology.
To win in a fijital discipline, it is not enough for an athlete to be the best only on the football field, on the driving range, in the ring or in his favourite video game. The points scored in the physical and digital phases are added up, and participants need specialised training and the ability to quickly switch from one challenge to another.
The Future Games competitions are divided into five challenges:
▪ The Sports challenge combines classic sports with their digital counterparts: fijital football, fijital basketball, fijital hockey, fijital unicycling, fijital racing, fijital skateboarding, fijital BMX and virtual cycling.
▪ The Tactics challenge includes computer shooters and competitions in a laser tag arena.
▪ The Strategy Challenge includes popular battle arenas from MOBA and World of Tanks games, as well as additional endurance challenges.
▪ The Speed challenge will require participants to go as fast as possible through retro games and then compete in physical challenges.
▪ The Technology Challenge consists of drone and robot competitions to be controlled by the participants, a dance simulator, a virtual reality game, cybathletics and sports programming.
Participants will compete for the Future Games Trophy, which travelled from Moscow to Baikonur in November-December 2023 before heading to the ISS. In 2024, it will return from space and will be presented at the Future Games. The total prize fund of the competition is $10 million.
Foreign delegations and more than 600 media representatives from Russia, China, UAE, Vietnam, Cuba, Italy, Syria, France, South Africa, Latin America and other countries plan to visit Kazan during the Games. The competition will be broadcast to 200 venues on all continents, including countries such as Brazil and Chile, China and India, as well as CIS countries.
The opening and closing ceremonies will take place in Kazan, Russia on 21 February and 3 March respectively. The tournament will employ 2,000 volunteers from 20 countries who were selected from a pool of 7,000 applicants.
A new sporting trend – fijital – is rapidly gaining popularity in the world. Russia is among the founders and leaders in its development. The idea of creating the Future Games was first voiced in 2021 in Kazan.
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In May 2023, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, which today is already called “the sports capital of Russia”, hosted an international fijtal-football tournament with the participation of teams from America, Europe and Asia. The Islamic countries were represented in the tournament by Iran’s Persian Gulf team.
The fijital football competition was held within the framework of the International Economic Forum Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum 2023, where the issues of fijital sport development in the world and OIC countries were discussed separately.
The participants of the expert discussions (including the President of the Bahrain Cybersports Federation Hussain Al-Kuheji), agreed that such games contribute to the harmonious development of modern youth, correspond to their range of interests and find a great response among modern cyber athletes, students and schoolchildren.
The experts also highlighted sports and further joint sporting events, including fijtal, as a factor of sustainable partnership between Russia and the Islamic World, open, mutually beneficial and non-discriminatory.
Purchase tickets
▪ on the official website of the Future Games
▪ on the official ticket operator’s website
What is Kazan Forum?
Islamic World: KazanForum is the main platform for business interaction between Russia and the countries of the Islamic world. The purpose of the forum is to strengthen trade and economic, scientific and technical, educational, social and cultural ties between the regions of the Russian Federation and the countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which includes 57 states.
The XV International Economic Forum «Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum» will be held on 14-19 May 2024. Venue: Russian Federation, Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan.
Key topics of KazanForum-2024: Islamic finance, halal industry, international investments, industry, innovative technologies, energy, logistics, tourism, diplomacy, ESG principles, small and medium-sized businesses, medicine, sports, media industry and others.
The Fijital Games are a series of competitions in fijital disciplines preceding the 2024 Fijital Games. They were held in Kazan from September 2022 to November 2023. It was there that spectators got their first glimpse of many of the fijital disciplines and athletes were selected to compete in the Future Games. 1200 athletes from 48 countries took part in 10 tournaments, and the Fijital format was tried out by former Russian national team players Roman Shishkin and Alexander Sheshukov, Gagarin Cup winners Dmitry Obukhov and Vladimir Malinovsky, Dakar Rally 2015 champion Airat Mardeev and many other famous athletes.
Future Games is an international tournament of a new format. The Games include competitions in 21 hybrid disciplines. Each of the disciplines combines the concept of fijital (physical+digital), combining classic sports and cybersports or VR-/AR-technology and testing both the physical fitness of athletes and their digital skills. The tournament will take place in Kazan from 21 February to 3 March 2024. Athletes and teams from over 100 countries are expected to participate.
Registration of participants for KazanForum-2024 on the official website of the Forum.
Media accreditation for KazanForum-2024, visit site.
