Kazan is due to host the Games of the Commonwealth of the Independent States in 2021 ©Getty Images

Organisers of the first Games of the Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS) have confirmed the new dates for the event in Kazan after it was postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus crisis.

The Games in the Russian city, which had been scheduled to take place from August 20 to 27 this year, have been rescheduled for September 4 to 11 in 2021.

It had been expected that more than 3,500 athletes between the ages of 14 and 23 would compete at the Games.

The event for CIS countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan - is set to feature 230 events and 21 sports.

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said he was hopeful the CIS Games would be held in 2021 ©Getty Images
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said he was hopeful the CIS Games would be held in 2021 ©Getty Images

A total of 15 facilities in Kazan, which hosted the Summer Universiade in 2013, will be used during the event for nations from the former Soviet Union.

The prospect of moving the Games to Belarus had been mooted by Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin.

"I hope that next year this project will be implemented, it is very important from the point of view of our interaction and development of partnership in the field of sports," said Matytsin.