Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar.6
Trend:
Armenian Wrestling Federation is against the participation of Armenian wrestlers at the first European Games in Baku, Armenia Today news agency reported March 6.
"Management and the Executive Committee of the Federation have thoroughly and seriously studied the issue of participation of Armenian wrestlers at the European Games in Baku and decided that the participation of our representatives is pointless and impractical," the head coach of Armenian national Greco-Roman wrestling team Levon Julfalakyan said in an interview posted on the official website of the Federation. "In the coming days we will inform the ministry of sports and Olympic Committee about our decision."
At the same time, the sports minister of Armenia Gabriel Ghazaryan said that Armenia's participation in the European Games to be held in Baku in summer is mandatory.
"Our participation in the European Games in Baku is mandatory," said Gabriel Ghazaryan. "We must take part in the Games. This is my subjective opinion."
Baku 2015 is the first-ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent, which will take place on June 12-28, 2015.
There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.
Twelve of the sports will offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Those sports include Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Judo, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Wrestling and Volleyball.
Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012. The Baku European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) will organize and run the Games in co-operation with the EOC.
Translated by EA
Edited by CN