Farid Gayibov: AGF completely ready for Islamic Games
By Amina Nazarli
The Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF) is completely ready to host the Islamic Solidarity Games, AGF Secretary General Farid Gayibov said.
“We have all the conditions and all the necessary equipment to host major events at the highest level,” he told Trend on May 10.
Gayibov noted that the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation has extensive experience in holding international events, and guest reviews about the Federation’s work are always positive.
He reminded that last week Azerbaijan for the first time hosted a meeting of the Council of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), which is a major event in the international gymnastics calendar.
Following the Council meeting, the AGF received the highest praise from the meeting participants, according to him.
Gayibov further said that all the preparatory work in the National Gymnastics Arena has already been completed for the Islamic Solidarity Games.
He noted that rhythmic gymnastics was included in the Islamic Solidarity Games’ program for the first time upon initiative of the Azerbaijani side, and as a result, gymnasts from 12 countries have come to participate in the Games.
The AGF secretary general said the inclusion of gymnastics in the future Islamic Solidarity Games will be individually decided with each of the organizing country, based on their capacity and infrastructure.
At the same time, he recalled that the following Games will be held in Turkey, where gymnastics is quite popular.
The Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games will kick off May 12 and end May 22. About 3,000 athletes from 57 countries will compete in the Games.
The first gymnastics event will be held at National Gymnastics Arena on May 12 - the opening day of the Games - and will last for 4 days.
The classification phase on rhythmic gymnastics will take place on May 12-13 and finals will be held on May 14.
The classification phase on artistic gymnastics will take place on May 13-14 and finals will be held on May 15.
Azerbaijan’s hopes in rhythmic gymnastics will be pinned on Marina Durunda, Zhala Piriyeva, Zohra Agamirova, in women artistic gymnastics - Yuliya Inshina, Marina Nekrasova, Maria Smirnova, Ekaterina Tishkova and men artistic gymnastics - Murad Agharzayev, Timur Bayramov and Bense Talas.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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