BALLAD OF THE FOREIGN LEGION

Bringing foreigners into the national teams has not fallen off the agenda over the years. Quite the reverse, it becomes a hotter issue with every major competition, giving plenty of food for thought. The Olympics in Beijing were no exception. Two of Azerbaijan's seven medals there were won by naturalized sportsmen - wrestlers Maria Stadnik (48 kg) and Xetaga Gazyumov (96 kg). So do we need foreigners? Let's look at this as a whole.

Uncompetitive

Minister for Youth and Sport Azad Rahimov gave a new impetus to the discussion in his summary of the team's performance at the Olympics: "If we are talking about the development of sport, then in some sports we cannot manage without them. This applies to freestyle wrestling where we have promising youngsters who are not yet ready to compete at the high Olympic level. So we had to invite foreigners. The foreigners do, of course, have to be stronger than our local sportsmen, but you have to remember that no federation will give up a really strong sportsman."

And in opting for foreigners in several weight categories we really cannot count on the very best, although Maria Stadnik and Xetaga Gazyumov have shown that they are forces to be reckoned with in the international arena. The Caucasus today provides most of the talent in men's wrestling. As a result there is fierce competition for places in the Russian men's team. The current world champions, Khadjimurat Gatsalov and Makhach Murtuzaliyev, did not even make it to Beijing - the trainers preferred other athletes who had won even more titles.

However, back to real life here. Azerbaijan does not have athletes in several weight categories (mainly heavyweights) able to compete internationally. So the trainers have to resort to the services of foreigners as there is simply no other solution. This can be seen in particular in women's wrestling, where our mentality plays its part. So the invitation to Maria Stadnik, who after winning her licence to the Games won the European Championship and the continent's youth title, has been fully justified. This was further confirmed by her Olympic bronze.

It has to be understood that the Olympics long since ceased to be a purely sporting event as the Games are an opportunity to promote a country. And this requires as many medals as possible to be won. "Usually, when the international Olympic family is talking about the results of the games, then first they consider the number of medals won by each country. There are two counts - the first features teams with the most golds, while the second counts the number of medals. So in this context we performed well and the number of medals is most important," the vice-president of the National Olympic Committee, Cingiz Husyenzada says.

Fencing failure

The lack of top-class performers in some sports means that the discipline misses out on the Olympics and its previous success is worth nothing. A striking example is fencer Yelena Zhemayeva who has had relatively recent victories. She twice won the world championship competing under the Azerbaijani flag and enjoyed success at the European and world cups. It is stretching it to describe her as a foreigner, as she is the wife of our famous fencer, double Olympic champion Ilqar Mammadov who competes for Russia. But no sooner had Zhemayeva left the team than our women fencers and Azerbaijani fencing as a whole became much weaker in the international arena.

International practice throws up some curiosities. Bulgarian weight-lifters received Qatari citizenship and won many prizes in the world championships ahead of the 2000 Olympics. Of course, this "mess" annoyed plenty of teams and they made a fuss, protesting to the international federation. But there was nothing to complain about - the athletes are citizens of Qatar and their surnames are not even Slavonic. Through the world championships the Bulgarians, or rather Qataris, won the right to compete in the Sydney Games.  

In any event, inviting foreigners is a necessary, temporary measure until new sportsmen grow up. For example, several naturalized volleyball players are now key players in the Azerbaijani national team. Natalya Mammadova (maiden name Skazka) is a citizen of Ukraine. She has three times been declared the best attacker in the Champions' League for AzarRail and was once declared the best player in the whole tournament. Natalya has become an irreplaceable component of the Azerbaijani team and it is largely thanks to her that the team has reached the top. But there is a "but". Chief trainer Faiq Qarayev would be glad to give a first team place to the closest reserve, but the young people are not ready physically or psychologically. Famous Russian trainer Nikolay Karpol once said it takes 10 to 15 years to develop one top-class woman volleyball player. This is a long term prospect, but you can understand the managers who need a result.

The Mammadovs aren't ready yet

However, you can't jump higher than the team. While the team competed as equals against leading European countries, beating the then world champions Italy several times, our women volleyball players could not get a result against Brazil, China and Russia. As well as class and experience the opponents have strength in depth, while Faiq Qarayev is extremely restricted in his choice of players. That's why the national federation got permission for another Ukrainian, Lidiya Maksimenko, to compete under the Azerbaijani flag.

The trend for foreigners to join the national teams is becoming more viable. Many people might find it funny when American Kristin Fraser takes to the ice for Azerbaijan's figure-skating team, rather than a Mammadova, Cabbarova or Huseynova. On the other hand, why refuse the services of sportsmen whom we can rely on to perform consistently? Kristin Fraser and her partner Igor Lukanin have already competed in three Olympics, they train in Washington and Moscow and this suits the federation. After all, there isn't any ice in Baku. But it's another question whether it's worth developing sports that have no future in Azerbaijan. That's a rhetorical question. 

But it's the Azerbaijani football championship, which recently lived its limit on foreign players, that gives foreigners the most freedom. Time will tell whether this is good or bad. But more and more naturalized players are now joining the national side. For the last European Championship qualifiers chief coach Sahin Diniyev called up several Brazilians at once, including Andre Ladaga and Leandro Gomes. But they did not bring any perceptible benefit and only the call-up of Serb Branimir Subasic, who at that time was playing well for Neftci, can be said to have been justified. His involvement in the national team had a positive effect and Branimir became a first-choice player.

The naturalization situation has hardly changed with the arrival of Berti Vogts as chief coach. The German's finds include Brazilian Fabio Luis Ramim who has twice been outstanding in midfield for the national team and become a first-choice player. It is understandable that even with foreigners the team will still be second-rate in the international arena until AFFA properly takes up the development of junior and youth football. It will take many years and good coaches to bring through a new generation of home-grown players with a winning psychology.