THE SUMMIT OF OLYMPUS

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Azer-baijan marks two anniversaries this year - the 15th anniversary of the NOC and the 10th anniversary of the Olympic movement in Azerbaijan.

Our interviewee is NOC Vice-President Cingiz Huseynzada.

- What are Azerbaijan's chances of hosting the Olympic Games in 2016? Do you think that Russia's trick, "the worst for the best" in Sochi, will become obsolete and will not be a weighty argument for the International Olympic Committee?

- It is too early to talk about any chances yet. There is quite a long way to go to the Olympic Games. In the first stage of this great race, cities put forward their candidacies and become contenders, and then candidate cities are selected from among them. At this stage, we can already talk about chances. Our city is currently one of seven cities that have made a bid to host Olympics 2016. Our rivals are quite strong and well-known worldwide - Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Prague and Doha.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has issued a decree to set up an organizational committee to support Baku's bid to host the Olympic Games. World experience shows that cities themselves are not able to manage all the related issues without state support. The organizational committee chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Yaqub Eyyubov has in fact started work by discussing a number of the most important issues.

As for Russia's trick regarding Sochi, all countries use such tricks. What is so strange about it? As regular viewers of Russian TV channels, we have noticed adverts directed at this issue. This drive was supported not just by Russia, but also by other countries at state level. For example, the Korean president and the Austrian prime minister played an active role in nominating their own cities. Russian President Vladimir Putin's direct involvement in this action was remembered also because he is really fond of sports and has a great interest in this issue. When it is our turn, we will also be active at all levels in presenting our country. Perhaps, we will use the "worst for the best" trick in the sense that in the process of creating the necessary infrastructure to host the Olympic Games, we will supply the most up-to-date technology.

- What can you say about the development of sports in Azerbaijan as a whole, its weaknesses and strengths? What do we have to do to ensure that Azerbaijani sportsmen participate in a greater number of international sporting events?

- Our country has always been fond of sports. This is proved by the ancient sports sung about in our ballads, myths and fairy tales about covqan (a type of polo), archery, horse-races and so on. They were not just sports, but also an important part of military training. Of course, sport developed in Soviet times as well, but it was below the average Soviet level for various reasons. We had world champions and record holders, but very few, because you had to be first in order to get into the Soviet national team. Everything was decided at an ideological level and, more often, in favour of sportsmen of Slavic origin. After Azerbaijan gained its independence, there was a breakthrough which we have been witnessing for several years. We started participating in various championships independently and achieved our first results; for example, we have world and European champions in boxing, tae kwon do, fencing, weightlifting and rhythmic gymnastics. This fast breakthrough was furthered by the state's positive attitude towards sports and the desire of sportsmen themselves to reach new heights. The foundations were laid by national leader Heydar Aliyev, who believed in the potential of the young generation. 

The Olympic movement as such started developing in 1997, when Ilham Aliyev was elected chairman of the Olympic Committee. It represents not just sports, but also environmental protection, the promotion of cultural and national traditions and the struggle for peace. The speedy development of the Olympic movement is proved not just by the number of medals that we have won, but also by the fact that sports are enjoyed on a mass scale and sports societies and clubs are being opened. Our success at the Sydney Olympics marked a watershed in our bid to be the first.

As for the second part of the question, it is not a question of the frequency of drills, but of the establishment of the necessary infrastructure to develop specific types of sports. We need to employ specialist coaches and carry out serious work to open sections, clubs and societies in order to select the professional sportsmen of the future. In the examples of tae kwon do and rhythmic gymnastics, which were not developed in our country before, we can see the distance we have covered - we have reached world level today. Moreover, in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, we are expecting places, and I hope that we will participate in equestrian sports as well. Cycling is also developing. You have probably noticed cyclists doing exercises on the pavements in the city. We have great hopes for track and field athletics, and we already have prize winners in various tournaments, including the junior world championship.

- Recently Baku hosted the 2007 Senior World Championship in Greco-Roman, Freestyle and Female Wrestling. What can you say about the performance of our national team? What other prestigious international tournaments is Azerbaijan planning to host in the near future?

- Journalists asked me this question as well. I see the championship from two perspectives: the championship was hosted by Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani sportsmen participated in it. We held the championship at a very high level. More than 100 countries participated in the championship, with a record number of sportsmen, which was the first event of such a scale held in our country. The championship was organized by the Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Wrestling Federation. Participants and guests assessed the championship as successful. The team of Armenian sportsmen left our country, thanking us for the good organization of the championship and for ensuring their security. We received letters of thanks from the International Olympic Committee and other international organizations for creating the conditions for the Armenian sportsmen to participate in this championship. Our country demonstrated its high tolerance again and showed that we respect and observe international norms and are open to dialogue in both politics and sports. As for the bronze medal won by Armenia, this proved once again that Armenia is going nowhere without Russia. Even in sports, the Armenian medal was won by a Russian, not to mention the war?

As for the participation of our sportsmen in the World Championship 2007, it was at a satisfactory level. I am sure that if this championship had been held in any other country, our results would have been much better. In this case, the fact that we hosted the championship did not help us. Of course, we drew the right conclusion, recognized our mistakes and replaced the main coach. But in all this, I want to point out the heroism of Olympic champion Farid Mansurov. Since the Olympic Games in Athens, he has not participated in any tournament and has undergone surgery twice and, without being fully recovered, he decided to defend the interests of his homeland in this championship. He did it with credit, showing his readiness to win in the forthcoming Olympic Games as well. After the world championship, Azerbaijan hosted the European youth championship in tae kwon do and a licensing tournament in judo.

- How important is the issue of bringing in foreign players to Azerbaijan?

- We need to have a positive attitude towards this issue. A foreign player is brought in to get a strong player and to develop this or that sport, raise its level and "improve" one's own sportsmen. Moreover, today when sports and the whole sports industry build their relations on a commercial basis, foreign players are inevitable.

- Do you know how many sportsmen will represent our country at the Beijing Olympics?

- Yes, we do. We have more than 20 places today, and their number will change by the time this interview is published. Various contests are held around the world every day, and the situation is changing. According to my forecasts, we will have at least 40 representatives. If we take into account that we had 23 in Atlanta City, 31 in Sydney and 38 in Athens, we should have at least 40 in Beijing.

- It is pleasing that last year Azerbaijan was not on the list of countries audited by the Assembly of European Olympic Committees (EOC). Can this happen this year?

- This year Azerbaijan will probably not go onto this list either. I can explain why. Audits are carried out in countries - incidentally, one audit was carried out in Armenia last year - where the country itself is spending less money on the development of sports than various international organizations. Money from international organizations invested in the development of sports in our country is so small compared to what the state itself has invested that any inspection to find out how and where this money was spent loses significance.

- What are Baku's chances of hosting the youth festival of the EOC in 2013? How are you preparing for the Trabzon tournament in 2011?

- The Olympic Committee has yet to make its final decision regarding the holding of this festival in Baku. This issue will be considered next year. These contests are held every two years, and we prepare for each of them. This year they were held in Belgrade and were quite successful for the Azerbaijani team - our sportsmen won seven gold medals. In the team performance, we took sixth place among nine European countries, lagging behind Russia, Britain, Germany, Italy and Ukraine. All the other countries, including such sports powers as France, Spain and Sweden, were left behind.

- The NOC marks its 15th anniversary this year with quite a long list of achievements. What are the best pages in the history of the NOC?

- I'll try to keep to the chronology.

1997 - A new president and executive committee of the NOC were elected, which actually marked the beginning of the Olympic movement in the country.

1998 - Olympic stipends were established for sportsmen and their coaches for the first time.

2000 - was marked by two important events: the first Olympic complex was built and its opening was attended by Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, and our sportsmen gained a brilliant victory in Sydney. Just imagine - 34th place among 198 countries of the world and 22nd place among the 48 European countries! This was an unprecedented success!

2001 - A session of the executive committee of the European Olympic Committee was held in the new administrative building of the Olympic Committee, where Jacques Rogge was nominated for the post of president of the International Olympic Committee. There is still a joke going round international political circles that Jacques Rogge was nominated by Baku.

2002 - This year marked the beginning of the construction of new Olympic Complexes in the regions of Azerbaijan.

2003 - The NOC president was elected Azerbaijani president.

2004 - Five medals were won at the Olympic Games in Athens. The Azerbaijani president was given the highest award of the IOC - the Olympic Order.

2005 - The first Olympic championship - in gymnastics - was held in Azerbaijan.

2006 - Baku hosted the World Boxing Championship and the Gold Grand Prix Final in wrestling.

2007 - The opening of the Olympic complex in Masalli was visited by the president of the European Olympic Committee. The most important event was the brilliant victory of Farid Mansurov at the World Wrestling Championship held in Azerbaijan.

These facts are more than enough to draw the conclusion that Azerbaijan has become one of the most sporting countries in the world. Sports have been a symbol of peace, health and prosperity at all times.

P.S. There is another circumstance that emphasizes the importance of the subject of our interview: Our journal congratulates the vice-president of the NOC, Cingiz Huseynzada, on being awarded the Order of Glory for his great contribution to the development of sports, especially the Olympic movement, in the country.