The purpose of this study is to determine the role of the Red Sports International in the formation of sports diplomacy in Soviet Russia in the 1920s and 30s. Based on archival materials and Soviet periodicals, the authors put forward the idea that the creation of the red sports international (IDR) served not only as the beginning of sports contacts between Soviet Russia and foreign countries, but also laid the foundations of Soviet sports diplomacy. Soviet Russia envisioned the creation of the red sports international as an important step in overcoming the isolation it found itself in after the October revolution of 1917. This was facilitated by the Spartakiads and various sports events organized by the red sports international, in which Soviet athletes actively participated, and contributed to the development of cultural ties with many European countries (Germany, Finland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, etc. The novelty of the research is determined by the fact that for the first time IDR is considered an institution of nascent sports diplomacy of the USSR. The authors suggest a new look at IDR's activities, considering it as the first institution of nascent sports diplomacy.