Today Baku hosts the FIG Congress. Ahead of the event, Vestnik Kavkaza talked to President of the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee Nelli Kim about the Congress’s agenda and development of gymnastics in Azerbaijan.
- What is the agenda of the current FIG Congress?
- One of main goals of the Congress is changing the Charter of FIG. It’s our key document which regulates our life. We have a lot of very serious suggestions. For example, elections in 2020 will be regulated by changes made in today’s Congress. It’s a historical congress. We expect hard discussions as different people have different points of view on suggestions in the agenda.
- Will new gymnastic disciplines appear?
- We will discuss parkour. It’s a big topic for the Baku Congress – whether parkour should be a FIG discipline or not.
- Does FIG plan to admit new members to FIG?
- We are discussing an admission of Oceania, a continental gymnastic union, to FIG. I agree that we should have separate unions and the more is better. The International Olympic Committee wants gymnastics to develop in the whole world. However, it’s necessary to do, according to certain rules.
- How do you assess cooperation between FIG and UEG under Farid Gaibov’s management?
- Farid does a good job. I like the questions he raises. It makes the work of FIG more efficient. It’s not enough to sit still and nod. We should reveal problems and solve them. I like the way we discuss current problems in the Executive Council.
- What do you think about Azerbaijani Gymnastic Federation and its head Mehriban Aliyeva?
- My hat’s off to Mehriban Aliyeva. I admire her and the way she as Vice-President of the republic has time for gymnastics and not only Azerbaijani but also the global one. She is a unique woman.
I love visiting Baku. I know many employees of AGF as frequently visit the city. The Azerbaijani Federation is the most active in the world in hosting competitions. I admire AGF and would like to complement its staff. The federation has not so many people but the small working group does a huge work.
