Matytsin also received a warm welcome from his counterpart, India's Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, where among the things discussed was the inaugural Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Games.

It is no coincidence that during his visit to New Delhi, Matytsin announced that Russia was ready to host the first edition and that he personally invited India to take part, along with China. 

The prospect of the world’s two most populous countries and emerging economic forces taking part in the event is enough to have had International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach shifting uneasily in his seat.

I have written before in this column, that the biggest fear of Bach is that the current crisis started by Russia’s invasion last year of Ukraine, which led to the country’s athletes being banned, a decision he is now desperately trying to reverse, will lead to the establishment of a serious rival to the Olympic Games.

Other events have previously briefly been set up, like the Games of the New Emerging Forces staged by Indonesia in 1963 and the Goodwill Games, competition created by American television mogul Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s, but have not proved sustainable.

The SCO Games, though, has the potential to be different.

The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organisation and is the world's largest regional body in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 60 per cent of the area of Eurasia, 40 per cent of the world population, and more than 30 per cent of global gross domestic product.

The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996 between the People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The SCO Charter was signed in July 2002 and entered into force the following year. Its membership has since expanded to eight states, with India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan joining. 

Several countries are engaged as observers or dialogue partners, including Egypt, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The possibility of establishing the Association of SCO Sports Organizations is an initiative that has come directly from Putin himself.

"The activities of the association could be aimed at strengthening ties in the development of Olympic, non-Olympic, Paralympic and national sports; the association will promote sports activities among the SCO member states," Matytsin announced when discussing the project in India at a Meeting of Heads of Ministries in charge of the development of physical education and sports in the SCO member states.

Matytsin has made no secret that he sees the SCO Games as a direct competitor to the Olympics, where Russia have not been allowed to compete as a full team under its own flag since they hosted the Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, due, first, to the state-sponsored doping scandal and now Putin's war against Ukraine.

"Our common task is to ensure that athletes and major international competitions do not become the object of political games," Matytsin said. "This is possible only on condition of equality and respect among all participants. I propose to counteract these destructive trends and jointly form common legal and political mechanisms to protect the rights of athletes in the SCO region."

The prospect of India actively being involved in such a rival project will be of grave concern to the IOC. 

Making it even worse, is that the Olympic family is due to set up camp in India's largest city in October for its 140th Session, where the participation of Russia at next year's Olympic Games in Paris is expected to top the agenda.

The world's biggest democracy has proved to be a surprisingly good friend to Russia since it was largely ostracised in Europe and the United States. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Putin last September and called their countries' friendship "unbreakable."

As Europe eschews Russian oil and gas, India has doubled down on buying the precious commodities at bargain prices. It also continues to place orders for its weapons.

With China remaining a key partner of Russia, even if its relationship has grown more exasperating for Chinese diplomats over the past year as it continue to try to maintain a cordial partnership with key economic trading partners in the West, it is clear to why the IOC may be very concerned about the setting up of a rival Games involving these three countries.

You can be assured that one of the first sports to sign up for the new SCO Games will be boxing.

The level of control which The Kremlin has over the sport was demonstrated at the Opening Ceremony of the Women's World Championships in India’s capital last night where Matytsin was a guest of honour and sat next to International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev as the Russian team marched under its own flag in direct contravention of IOC recommendations.

Kremlev's close links to Putin is among the myriad of reasons that the IBA is currently banned by the IOC from being involved in the organisation of the Olympic boxing tournament.

The IOC will never have dealt with anyone like Kremlev. The more they threaten him, including leaving boxing off the Olympic programme altogether for Los Angeles 2028, the more outrageous his behaviour.

The decision to allow Megan de Cler to compete at the World Championships under a neutral banner, even though the Dutch Boxing Federation had announced it was boycotting the event in protest at competitors from Russia and Belarus being allowed to compete, was a very subtle message to Boris van der Vorst.

On the eve of the tournament in New Delhi, Kremlev had laughed off claims that the Common Cause Alliance (CCA), which van der Vorst is supposed to be leading, could stage a rival men’s World Championships. 

Kremlev's confidence has probably been boosted by the fact that the group’s "cause" does not appear to be that much of an "alliance" as members Australia and France have both sent teams to India, and not joined the boycott of 11 other countries, led by the United States and Great Britain.

The SCO Games is one of several events that Matytsin is promoting to Russia’s allies at the moment, including the International University Sports Festival in Yekaterinburg in August. 

This is a replacement for the Summer World University Games, which the Russian city was supposed to host this year before it was taken away after the Ukraine invasion.

Yekaterinburg was awarded the Games shortly after Matytsin was elected President of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) in 2015. 

He had been forced to step aside in March 2021 as a result of the World Anti-Doping Agency sanctions and chose to allow Swiss Leonz Eder to continue in an acting capacity. But Matytsin remains the President.

Matytsin's proposal for the length of his office to be extended by another two years until 2025 was defeated at a FISU Extraordinary General Assembly held online earlier this week. 

It was the sole setback in a good week for Matytsin and means that an election is now due to be held later this year where he will have to stand for re-election if he wants to continue.

FISU will now be holding its breath to see whether Matytsin decides to return as President for the next few months in the hope of launching a successful campaign to win another term. 

Do not rule it out.

As Matytsin has proved in India his week, condemnation of Russia over Ukraine is far from unanimous. 

Cracks are already appearing in the Olympic Movement. 

Only time will tell whether Bach will be able to prevent them becoming so big that the whole edifice falls down.