Igor Petrishenko is confident that Russia and Belarus will be able to find alternative competitions to take part in after facing worldwide sanctions ©Getty Images

Belarusian deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko feels that the international sporting community's sanctions on Russia and his country in response to the invasion of Ukraine have been imposed to get rid of strong opponents.

Petrishenko made his comments at a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus.

"The sports sector is in a difficult situation today," said Petrishenko, as reported by BelTA.

"The International Olympic Committee, the majority of the international sports organisations have imposed various sanctions on our athletes.

"To put it bluntly, sports officials have simply got rid of strong opponents in the face of Russian and Belarusian athletes."

Petrishenko stressed that the two countries would be able to find alternatives after being banned from hosting or competing in the majority of sporting events around the world.

New competitions have already been set up between Russia and Belarus in wrestling, handball, biathlon, and athletics with more than 800 events across 48 sports scheduled to take place in 2022 and 2023.

"In addition to this, in the future we will also invite athletes from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and other friendly states to the competitions held in Belarus and Russia," Petrishenko said.

Belarus is looking to invite CIS, BRICS, and SCO nations to various sporting competitions after being excluded by several International Federations ©Getty Images
Belarus is looking to invite CIS, BRICS, and SCO nations to various sporting competitions after being excluded by several International Federations ©Getty Images

CIS is made up of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan while Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa make up BRICS.

The SCO boasts eight member states in China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Belarus is set to host the second edition of the CIS Games from August 3 to 15 2023 with approximately 3,000 athletes set to take part in an initial programme made up of 20 sports.

"I am convinced that these Games will be a real festival which we know how to organise well," Petrishenko said.

Kazan in Russia staged the inaugural edition in 2021 after an initiative from the country's Ministry of Sport was accepted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At least 4,662 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched a full-scale invasion on February 24, the United Nations reports, but it believes the true figure is far higher.

More than 7.5 million people have fled the country, while the combined military death toll is thought to exceed 20,000.