BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 22. The institutions responsible for sports should always be together with the athletes, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said addressing the meeting with the country’s athletes who succeeded in the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games, Trend reports.
"You are probably aware that there have been changes in several federations recently. And this is quite natural. It was inevitable because I could see that there was stagnation in some federations, results were not achieved, some of our athletes were denied the opportunity to join international competitions. Relevant international sports bodies have punished them and the federations as a whole, sometimes in a justified and sometimes in an unjustified manner. Unfortunately, these situations were taking places and we saw that a new impetus was needed. I am sure that the recent changes in federations and, at the same time, in the Ministry of Youth and Sports are highly appreciated by both athletes and the sporting community because the results are obvious. The institutions responsible for sports should always be together with the athletes, they should know every single athlete and deal with their problems. I can already see that the changes made are producing and will continue to produce results. The key thing is that the sporting community of Azerbaijan should work towards one goal. It has always been a matter of top priority that the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, federations, clubs and the entire sporting community should work towards one goal, work as one team and be united. I have been President of the National Olympic Committee since 1997, and I know what processes are taking place in which countries. In many cases, there is no unity between the bodies responsible for sports. In fact, there are contradictions between them. We have this unity, and I think this is one of the main prerequisites of our success," the head of state said.