Russia will look to its economic allies for sporting competition with the IOC ban continuing indefinitely ©Getty Images

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Dmitry Svishchev, has stated Russia must make sports alliances and developments outside of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) scope, with a ban still on the country for its involvement in the war in Ukraine.

He said the sporting community had become "Russophobic" and as a result, the country was forced to create partnerships with countries from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) group.

"We are talking about the fact that in modern conditions, when Russian sports are banned, a Russophobic company has reached sports, and we are obliged to create conditions for our athletes," said Svishchev to Russia's official state news agency TASS.

"We discussed opening windows for interaction with other countries, communities, BRICS, SCO. 

"I think a large number of countries are ready to compete with us.

"We have heard repeatedly that [IOC President] Thomas Bach calls for removing Russians from sports life, but at the same time sometimes recommends allowing it. 

"But Mr. Bach is not all sport, so we need to find an opportunity to create sports organizations under the BRICS and SCO."

At the latest SCO Summit in Uzbekistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the creation of a sports organisation between nations in the body.

Kazakhstan is one of the nation's aligned with Russia in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ©Getty Images
Kazakhstan is one of the nation's aligned with Russia in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ©Getty Images

The SCO members are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan; with Iran and Belarus set to join.

The latter two are observer states along with Afghanistan and Mongolia.

Svishchev is also the President of the Russian Curling Federation (RCF), who recently had its ban extended until the end of the 2022-2023 season by the World Curling Federation (WCF).

They are to miss the World Championships in March and April as a result, with the RCF head staying consistent with his intentions to have events outside of the WCF.

"We are planning trips abroad to keep our guys in competitive shape," he added according to TASS.

"We are working on the participation of our athletes in tournaments that are not related to official starts, but nevertheless they are needed."

Since February 28, the IOC has recommended the indefinite suspension of Russian and Belarusian officials and athletes from international competition due to their nations' involvement in the invasion of Ukraine, which took place four days earlier.

However, the IOC did entertain a proposal at the Olympic Summit that could allow them to compete under the Olympic Council of Asia for qualification reasons.

It is still unclear if Russia and Belarus will compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with qualification already beginning.