Interview by Ramin Naziev, Baku, exclusive to VK
In Azerbaijan the year 2012 was declared the Year of Sport. There were international sporting events, new training facilities, the Olympic team of Azerbaijan brought 10 Olympic medals from London. Twenty years ago the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Azerbaijan was created. Vice-president of the NOC and world champion in freestyle wrestling Khazar Isayev told VK about the history of its creation, the challenges of the Olympic movement and about himself.
- How did you get into the sport?
- I was born on February 1st 1963 in Agdash, in a teacher’s family. In 1971 I went to secondary school in Agdash and even in the first class took first place in a freestyle wrestling championship in my district. In 1975 I moved to Baku and continued my studies in the national sports boarding school. While studying in the eighth grade, I won a silver medal in the school sports day of the USSR. In 1980, after graduating from the sports boarding school, I entered the State Institute of Physical Culture. In the same year, I came first in the youth championship of the USSR and was in the team of the Soviet Union. From 1978 to 1983, I was a six-time champion of Azerbaijan in wrestling. In 1986 I won the silver medal of the Goodwill Games and the European Championship in Greece. In 1987 in Bulgaria at the European Championships I again won the gold medal; in the same year in Hungary I was awarded the title of world champion.
In 1988, I lived and trained in Moscow and was the first candidate to take part in my weight class at the Olympic Games in Seoul. Instead of me they chose my opponent, Stepan Sargsyan. Honestly, I was frustrated. At that time I was the strongest in the weight, but there was no one to say a word in favor of my candidacy. I was very offended and returned to Baku, because I was deprived of an Olympic license. If I had been involved in those Olympics, I would have been in the final. But in the same weight class only one person should represent the country, and another athlete was chosen. In Baku, I met with fellow athletes. At that time there was the birth of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This affected the athletes: some went to war, some left the country, some went into the criminal world, some became bodyguards. Many famous athletes were killed in Karabakh. They had an unstable life. On January 20th 1990 my brother Mushfig Isayev died. And after all these sad events, I lost my job. I was taken to the USSR team, because I came from Moscow to Baku. I was looking for a source to get bread for my family - at the time I had two children. The well-known wrestler Rafik Hajiyev, who at the time worked as the head of the Passport Office, gave me a job as curator of the passport system of the Khatai district. And I started to work in the police.
- How did you get to the NOC?
- I have been the member of the committee since 1992, since the first day of creation. Then, the first President of the NOC was the world champion in wrestling Maheddin Allahverdiyev. He called me and said that he had sent a letter to the IOC for the creation of the Olympic movement in Azerbaijan, gathered all the famous athletes and offered me a job at the NOC. While we set up a committee, we did not have good opportunities to develop this structure, because the sport should be supported by the state. To join the worldwide Olympic movement, it was necessary to create a more powerful infrastructure. The sports community appealed to Ilham Aliyev for the support. He was the first vice-president of SOCAR, he was interested in sports and was very capable in all endeavors. The entire sports community unanimously elected him to the post of the NOC president. Since 1997, I was elected vice-president. Today, the Olympic committee has three vice-president: Genghis Huseynzade, Azad Rahimov and I, and the Chief Secretary is Aghajan Abiyev. Azad Rahimov serves as Minister of Youth and Sports, Genghis Huseynzade is directly involved in the NOC, and I'm the head of the sports club "Gomrukchyu" (“A Customs Officer”) at the Customs Committee. We participate in meetings and act together. I am still the representative of the movement Fair Play in Azerbaijan. I remember Azerbaijan for 15 years in the European arena. I am here in charge of the discipline in the teams. Sometimes there are some disagreements, misunderstandings, we try to help each other, to point out the right road. Today it is my main job in the Olympic movement.
- At what level today is the promotion of sport and a healthy lifestyle in the regions of Azerbaijan?
- The first Olympic sports complex was built by the NOC in Baku in 2000. After that, in Azerbaijan 35 regional Olympic complexes have been built and put into operation, and the construction of eight complexes is currently being carried out. In the near future there will be a modern city meeting the highest standards of the Olympic Sports Center. These centers train professional athletes, and the region's youth, children and adolescents, attending sports clubs, increase their professionalism. At the first World Youth Olympics Azerbaijani youth showed very good results and took 11th place in the world. This is a historic achievement, as it shows that we have a younger generation. Successful performances of famous athletes are an example for young people and children, who tend to be like champions. And it is also a very important factor.
In Azerbaijan an athlete is a very honorable profession. Our Olympic champions, world champions and Europe are our heroes, and love and respect for them in society are enormous. The activities of the regional Olympic complexes are successful, as this is the main source of human resources. In our region there are very talented young people, and we have all the conditions for a healthy lifestyle. Even the veterans or people who have health problems can go in for sports. All Olympic facilities have simulators, advanced equipment, swimming pools; these complexes in all respects comply with international standards. Recently, Mr. President has ordered that the Olympic athletes should train for free. But if we want that the Olympic movement in the region becomes widespread, the executive committees must deal directly with this, there must be propaganda in schools, and sports should be a way of life in the country.
