The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) held important meetings in Azerbaijan. It was a three-day visit to Baku, the country’s capital, where world weightlifting authorities met with the nation’s top brass, seeking to develop the sport and establish a solid foundation for the country that borders Europe and Asia.

Mohammed Jalood, president of the IWF, led the meetings in which he met with important authorities of Azerbaijan. Present were Prime Minister Ali Asadov, Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov, plus officials of the National Weightlifting Federation: president Kamran Nabizade and his vice president Firdovsi Umudov.

In addition, the top leader of world weightlifting met with Chingiz Huseynzade and Azer Aliyev, president and general secretary of the Azerbaijan Olympic Committee, respectively.

During the days in Baku, the IWF delegation visited the country’s High Performance Training Center, thinking about creating a possible IWF Academy that could be established there. This will be discussed next December, when representatives of Azerbaijan present the proposal at the Executive Board that will be held in Bahrain during the World Cup.

The IWF Academy project is not new, since it has already been implemented in Fuzhou, China, and Havana, Cuba.

EXCITED ABOUT THE PROJECTS

Mohammed Jalood, after the three days of meetings, expressed confidence in the results that this visit could bring. “All authorities are very enthusiastic about this project, as they want to raise the level of weightlifting in Azerbaijan. The results of the country’s youngest athletes are already quite encouraging, but sports and political leaders are determined to develop a new weightlifting culture in the country, specifically in the fundamental area of ​​anti-doping,” said the IWF president.

On the other hand, the International Federation also called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to be motivated to host possible weightlifting events. “We all know that the country is perfectly capable of successfully hosting our events. Numerous prestigious international sports competitions have been held in Baku and we would like to be part of that list. The interest is real and I am sure that we will have good news in the future,” Jalood concluded.