Third CIS Games to showcase Azerbaijan's sporting prowess in 14 districts Azerbaijan always succeeds in almost all kinds of sports

A decision was made at an extraordinary meeting of the Council for Physical Culture and Sports of the Parties to the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Physical Culture and Sports of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States on December 21, 2021 to hold the Third Games of the CIS countries in Azerbaijan.

These large-scale competitions will be held in several districts. These districts have been already announced. Proceeding from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s order, an organising committee was created. Azerbaijani Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov headed this committee (in accordance with the same order).

The third CIS Games will be held in 14 Azerbaijani districts, namely, Ganja, Khankendi, Mingachevir, Gabala, Ismayilli, Sheki, Shamkir, Tovuz, Gazakh, Goygol, Yevlakh, Oguz, Tartar and Goranboy next year. Athletes under 23 will compete in 22 kinds of sports. During the previous games in Belarus, competitions were held in 11 districts.

Of course, there is no doubt that Azerbaijan’s hosting of such a significant sporting event as the CIS Games will have a positive impact on further strengthening its growing authority as a sports country, and from the point of view of promoting Azerbaijan in general and its districts in particular.

As for the names of the cities where the competitions will be held, there are Mingachevir, Gabala, Ganja and Sheki, in which various competitions have been already held, and those that have favourable climate and conditions for holding various competitions such as Khankendi.

The semi-final stage of the Azerbaijan Football Cup was organised at a high level in Khankendi. The match between Qarabag FC (Aghdam) and MOIK FC (Baku) will be remembered for a long time by football fans who watched it live on December 21, 2023 at the reconstructed city stadium of Khankendi, liberated from long-term Armenian occupation.

December 21 is becoming a lucky date for Azerbaijani sports. Azerbaijan, which has hosted dozens of international competitions of various levels over the years of independence, will perfectly succeed this time too despite Azerbaijan will host competitions in more than ten districts at once for the first time. It is high time to hold public events in the Olympic complexes, built long ago in these districts, which will be useful for attracting tourists.

What about the sports component? What medals can Azerbaijan get? Proceeding from the history of the Games, during both the First and Second Games of the CIS countries, Azerbaijan in the team competition was left behind Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in Kazan, while Russia, Belarus and Uzbekistan in Belarus.

During the First Games, the Azerbaijani athletes won 60 medals (16-16-28), while at the Second Games - 62 (10-17-35). There were 182 sets of medals in Kazan (in 16 kinds of sports) while in Belarus there were 246 sets of medals (in 20 kinds of sports). Azerbaijan will try to succeed in 22 kinds of sports in 2025 and not only will maintain its place among the strongest participants but will also compete for the right to be called the best sports power in the post-Soviet area after Russia.

Moreover, as opposed to Belarus, where wrestling competitions (in which Azerbaijan always gets numerous medals) were not held, wrestling competitions will be held during the Third Games in Azerbaijan. Moreover, there are also gymnastics, boxing, judo, taekwondo, in which Azerbaijani strong athletes are popular far beyond the borders of the CIS countries.

The importance of these competitions is that they will become a serious test for the new post-Olympic generation. Moreover, the Azerbaijani youth are at a traditionally strong level in almost all kinds of sports.

By Vugar Vugarli

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