Moscow Country Club, a branch of the Main Administration for Service to the Diplomatic Corps (GlavUpDK) under the MFA of Russia, hosted the 23rd Winter Diplomatic Games dedicated to the Diplomatic Worker’s Day.
The sports festival was opened by Alexey Ostrovsky, Director General of the MFA of Russia, who read out a greeting address from Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov. “Competitions held under the auspices of GlavUpDK are popular with the Moscow-based Diplomatic Corps. The Games bring together fans of fair sports and a healthy lifestyle – all those who are committed to the spirit of competition. They provide an excellent opportunity to find new friends, establish win-win contacts and generally strengthen trust and mutual understanding,” the greeting says.
Read the full greeting from Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov to the organizers, participants and guests of the 23rd Winter Diplomatic Games.
The opening ceremony of the Winter Diplomatic Games was also attended by Head of GlavUpDK Vyacheslav Fatin, Olympic champion Svetlana Zhurova, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Committee on International Affairs in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, and other officials.
Teams from diplomatic missions, international organizations, mass media, GlavUpDK and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited the Moscow Country Club sports grounds to compete for prizes in tennis, table tennis, Russian billiards, and mini-football. This year has been the first time that the sports program included arm wrestling competitions. The judge panel includes legendary Russian and Soviet athletes and professional umpires. The chief judge of the competition was the Soviet speed skater, Olympic champion and medalist Lyudmila Titova.
The absolute award winner record holder is the Eurasian Economic Commission team who won in table tennis (2nd place award), billiards (1st and 2nd place awards), arm wrestling (1st place among men in the weight category up to 100 kilograms) and the mini-football championship (3rd place award), although in football they shared the bronze medals with the Vietnam Embassy team.
The gold in the football championship went to the Moscow Country Club team, and the athletes of the MFA of Russia were awarded the silver cup.
Visitors of the country club tried their hand at sports grounds and also gained insight into the rich gastronomic traditions of the peoples who live in Russia.
Together with the Federal Food Map of Russia Project managed by Ekaterina Shapovalova, GlavUpDK organized a gastro festival called Na Zdorovie! (Enjoy) for attendees of the Diplomatic Games to try traditional dishes from various Russian regions, in particular, Arctic cuisine, including kalya soup with Murmansk cod and trout, northern pearl barley porridge with venison, skoblyanka made from Bryansk potatoes and Altai marbled beef, which were served straight from steaming cauldrons producing savory smells.
In addition, they set a play area with amusements and entertainment competitions for both adults and children enjoy the festival.
Everything at the Moscow Country Club was imbued with an atmosphere of friendship and hospitality. The creative team of the Moscow Art and Industry Institute (MAII) lead by its permanent President Alexey Egorov presented a Visiting a Fairy Tale art space especially for participants in the 23rd Winter Diplomatic Games. Its main character was the Goldfish, the informal GlavUpDK mascot. The Games participants were also greeted by fairy-tale princesses, archers, and even a Russian bear who had got awakened from hibernation. They also took some vibrant photos in amazing MAII decorations as a keepsake of the day they spent at the Moscow Country Club.
