Farid Gaibov: "Of course, I stay in Baku, but I have to take a lot of trips to Lausanne"

Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation Farid Gaibov, who was elected President of the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) this Saturday, returned to Baku together with the delegation today from Croatia's city of Split, where the 27th Congress of the UEG was held. Farid Gaibov told Vestnik Kavkaza about the vote, as well as his further work plans (earlier, he was  vice-president of UEG).

- Farid muallim, how did the vote go?

- We needed 26 votes to win, that is, votes of 26 countries for my candidacy. But it turned out that 28 supported me, 20 supported another candidate, and there were two abstentions.

- How did your opponent react to your victory in the elections?

- He welcomed it. I know my opponent, he is a very cultured person, he immediately came up to congratulated me, we made small talk.

- What are your immediate plans as UEG President?

- We have a platform which outlines our work for the next four years. First of all, I will visit the office in Lausanne to conduct a number of organizational events. Then we will start implementing our plans. The Presidential Commission Meeting and the Executive Committee Meeting will be held already in mid-January. Then the sports year begins, which will be quite busy for me. We will continue our work on the project that we have started while I was UEG vice-president, and, of course, there will be new projects.

- How will you coordinate your work between Baku and Lausanne?

- Of course, I stay in Baku, but I will have to take a lot of trips to Lausanne. Now I am a member of the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation. This means that I am obliged to work not just at meetings of the European Gymnastics Union, but also at meetings of the FIG Executive Committee. I addition, I am obliged to attend the European championships, except for my work in the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation. In general, I have a lot of work to be done in this new position.