"We always welcome all athletes from all countries in Russia." Minister of Sports of Russia Mikhail Degtyarev talks about the SCO Open Cup

Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Mikhail Degtyarev spoke about the history behind the creation of the SCO Open Cup:

"Athletes from 21 countries have arrived in Russia. The SCO Open Cup is being held in Moscow at federal sports facilities and includes 11 sports that are popular both in Russia and in the SCO countries. Since the Cup is open, we invited everyone who wished to take part and are very glad to welcome participants from all countries. The SCO Open Cup is held by decision of the Council of Prime Ministers of the SCO Member States. This decision was made in 2025 in Tianjin, in the People's Republic of China. For our part, we, the sports ministers of the SCO countries, agreed this year in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, that each country would take on several sports. The largest-scale Cup is taking place here with us, featuring 11 sports. Overall, the idea of sports cooperation within the SCO framework was put forward by our President, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, back in 2023. And now it is developing. I am confident that this interstate format will take a firm place on the sports calendar."

He explained the goal of the tournament, and highlighted the importance of cooperation with other countries:

"And as we say, we hold interstate formats not instead of, but together with others. By this, we mean that it is not an alternative to international championships or tournaments. It is an additional opportunity to meet, prove oneself, compete, gain practice, make friends, and strengthen relations between our countries. Russia has always stood and continues to stand for Olympic values and their preservation, and today we are leading, one might say, a fight for the integrity of world sports, and we always welcome all athletes from all countries in Russia."