Alexander Zhukov: Russia and Azerbaijan have rich common history of sports

The Fans' House organized by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was opened today at the Russian Information and Culture Center in Baku. The ceremony was attended by the Vice President of the Azerbaijani National Olympic Committee, Chingiz Huseynzadeh, Azerbaijani Minister of Youth and Sports, Azad Ragimov, President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, Presidential Aide and Vice President Igor Levitin, Russian Minister of Sports, Vitaly Mutko, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Vladimir Dorokhin, the Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Lyubov Glebova and other guests.

The Russian Olympic Committee’s president Alexander Zhukov stressed at the opening of the Fans' House that Russia and Azerbaijan have a rich common history of sports. "We can see outstanding athletes from Azerbaijan who performed together with Russian athletes for the national team of the USSR. We can remember in the Fans' House such outstanding people as Tofik Bakhramov, a historic figure in Soviet football. And, of course, you can see a lot of exhibits from the Museum of Sport, which I am sure will cause great interest from our fans," Zhukov said.

He answered a question from Vestnik Kavkaza about the most popular items in the exhibition. "You can see a lot of great items exhibited here. But for me the most interesting item is Ahtaev's basketball shoes, who is a prominent Soviet basketball player, he is probably the tallest man in the history of basketball at 2.36 m. And everyone can compare their legs with the legs of Ahtaev," Zhukov said.

"The European Games will be the main competition in Europe in the future. I think that the Games will be held in Baku at the highest level, both organizational and sportung," the head of the ROC concluded.

Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Ragimov, in his turn, noted that the Fans' House is also a house of Russian-Azerbaijani friendship, "which will gather all those who love sport and understand and appreciate the friendship between the Azerbaijani and Russian people."

"I hope that the Games will leave the most vivid impression for the athletes, because we helped to create all the necessary conditions for comfortable living, freedom of movement, the normal operation of transport logistics," Azad Ragimov said.

The Minister thanked Russia, the Russian team, the ROC and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation for their support.

The Deputy Executive Director of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, Tatiana Bokova, highlighted the key difference between the Fans' House in Baku and similar houses organized for the Olympic Games in Sochi. "Today we are presenting not only the Russian team, but the team of Azerbaijan too. This promotion, this unity is the guarantee that the tradition of the Olympic movement in the relationship between the people and close ties are why Fans' Houses are opened.

The Vice President of the Azerbaijani National Olympic Committee, Chingiz Huseynzadeh, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the most important things for them are good fair play and satisfied athletes. "Azerbaijan hopes to get medals in sports traditional for Azerbaijan – wrestling, boxing, judo, sambo, taekwondo," Chingiz Huseynzadeh summed up.

The house of fans will be open on June 12-28. Entrance is free.

The 2015 European Games, the first in the history of the European continent, 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 6000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.