The event was organized by the BRICS Civil Council, a joint initiative with the Russia-BRICS Expert Council and eight professional clubs from Russia, Brazil, South Africa, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. Brazil was represented by the Associação Gaúcha de Futsal para Cegos (AGAFUC, in Portuguese), from the flood-ridden state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil.
Brazil's ambassador to Russia, Rodrigo Baena Soares, attended the tournament’s opening ceremony and saluted the Brazilian team. The diplomat paid homage to the team from Rio Grande do Sul in the context of the tragedy of the floods that hit the state in April 2024.
“Good afternoon, dear friends from Brazil. I know you come from Rio Grande do Sul. I have a lot of affection for Rio Grande do Sul. My mother was from there, so I know the state well. I would also like to congratulate you on the great effort you made after the floods. With all the problems it caused, you went through and recovered from it with great courage and determination,” said the ambassador.
“I’d like to greet you, and thank you for your presence. You have traveled from so far to be here, so I have all respect and admiration for you,” he added.
According to the event's organizers, the humanitarian and sporting initiative to promote a football tournament for visually impaired athletes is not disconnected from the current political conflicts between Moscow and the West, especially the policy of sanctions against Russia.
In March 2022, the International Blind Sports Association suspended the participation of teams from Russia and Belarus in the European Blind Football Championship, a qualifying tournament for the 2023 World Cup. These two events were crucial for the Russian blind football team to have a chance of qualifying for the 2024 Paralympics.
In this way, as well as organizing the BRICS Games in 2024, Russia seeks to promote sporting events within the group so that athletes can participate and develop in important international competitions.
The BRICS Civil Council argues that the humanitarian aspect – the exchange between the peoples of the BRICS group – should be one of the pillars of the group's development, in addition to issues related to politics and the economy.
That's what the head of the BRICS-Russia Expert Council and vice-dean of the Russian Higher School of Economics, Victoria Panova, said in an interview with Brasil de Fato. She said, “BRICS is a whole universe bigger than a political or economic group. It is a junction of countries and peoples who think alike, who want to develop together, who want to promote certain initiatives together”.
“That's exactly why we always reaffirm that the BRICS combines three pillars: politics, economy and humanitarian action, which is very important. [That’s the] Contact between people, and the development of cultural and sporting projects, which are important for everyone. In other words, the important thing is that BRICS is not just about governments, officials, ministries or business. BRICS is about people,” said Panova.
With the ball rolling, the Brazilian team finished runner-up after losing 1-0 to the Turkish team. Russian team Zvezda came third.
Russian Deputy Minister Serguei Ryabkov attended the event's closing ceremony. Addressing the athletes, he said it was a great honor for him to be on the football field that evening together with the tournament participants.
“I'm very honored to be on this football pitch surrounded by incredible athletes. I don't play football, but I admire you. I see how powerful a person is, how strong their will is. You set an example for those who don't understand how to value happiness and fight for the future, how to win as a team,” said the deputy minister.
In an interview with Brasil de Fato, Serguei Ryabkov expressed his hope that Brazil's presidency of the BRICS in 2025 will continue promoting sports events for the disabled among the group's members.
According to him, “the Brazilian presidency will pay very serious attention to economics and business” next year, but the deputy minister emphasized that the group's development scope has already extended into broader cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian spheres.
“The BRICS has already formed a tradition of broad contacts between peoples in the most varied formats. There are theater festivals, museum collaborations, and academic forums. Many meetings take place in the form of festivals. And this year's BRICS sports games in Kazan [Russia] brought together athletes from more than 50 countries,” he said.
Ryabkov highlighted the importance of the BRICS as a “center of attraction, a concentration point, a beacon in the promotion of interaction between peoples” and, in the possibility of competition between disabled athletes, pointed to blind football as one of the sports “that should have been done a long time ago.”
“We are happy that we were able to do this during our presidency. We hope that our Brazilian friends will adopt this initiative and can take the next step to make it a tradition and an integral element of the BRICS Games program,” added Serguei Ryabkov.
Edited by: Dayze Rocha
