From June 30 to July 2, Rizvan Rasulov, the General Secretary of the Azerbaijan Weightlifting Federation, was on a working visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He met with the officials of the Iranian Weightlifting Federation, as well as the Ardabil Province and the local regional federation, well-known former sportsmen, athletes with great success, got acquainted with the conditions established for weightlifting in the neighboring country, and discussed issues of mutual cooperation. Rasulov’s visit was on the agenda of the Iranian press and the local media got interviews from the General Secretary and learned their views, along with this, highlighted the visit at a high level addressing their questions within the press conference. The main aim of this visit was the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the AZE WF and the IRWF.
Rizvan Rasulov, who has already returned to Baku, spoke about his meetings and results to the official website of federation. The General Secretary stated that the visit was carried out within the framework of the memorandum of understanding “On cooperation in the sphere of youth and sports” signed between the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Islamic Republic of Iran on March 28, 2018: “It was recommended to hold joint and multilateral tournaments, experience exchange of athletes and coaches, organization of educational courses for referees, organization of local and traditional games in both countries and combined and mutual training-camps in the relevant sports- in the current situation in weightlifting-between Iran and Azerbaijan. On June 30, I set off Iran at the invitation of the other party in connection with the above mentioned issues. ”
According to the program of the visit, the General Secretary that first went to Ardabil, held meetings with the officials of the Ardabil province and local regional federations – Shahin Esbegian, Afshin Abbaseyi, Bahruz Nidai, Bahram Aghakhani and others, informed on the plans and announced the intentions and purposes. Rasulov also watched weightlifting halls in the city and met with the well-known trainers and athletes who train there : “Ardabil is one of the strongest, main source of Iranian weightlifting, has great historical traces, numerous Olympic champions and awarders have grown up here and are still growing up. This region is also close to us as a language and spirit. For all this, my first trip was there. We had a rational day. There were meetings, we watched the children’s trainings and reviewed the halls. Then a press conference was organized with coaches, other weightlifting experts and officials at the stadium named after Olympic champion Hossein Rezazadeh. The sides expressed their mutual intentions. It was suggested that after signing a memorandum between AZE WF and IRWF, Ardabil province should be given more importance. “
The General Secretary was satisfied with the hospitality he faced in Iran, particularly in Ardabil. “My arrival was vital for them as a federation spokesman. They showed the maximum effort to make my visit effective, demonstrate their work in weightlifting. Human warmth and openness were very pleasant. I thank each of them. I saw the passion to the sport in children. They are very well prepared psychologically. The climate in Ardabil is beautiful, the city is at 1300 meters above sea level- at the foot of Mountain Savalan, has wonderful nature, and the food is very good. I think that the training-camp of national team in Ardabil during the training for the competitions will promote the level of preparation. I expressed this desire and it was very welcomed. Yes, in our country there are innumerable places in the similar nature, however it is also substantial to go out and prepare in new locations. Ardabil has countless gyms, and appropriate conditions. We can take advantage of existing conditions.”
Rizvan Rasulov later visited to Tehran. The General Secretary held talks on signing a memorandum between the sides: “Iran is a great state and weightlifting is one of the most significant sports. During the meeting in the capital, the provisional president of IRWF, Alireza Khosrovi, noted that weightlifting is their national treasure, and we protect, improve, and work for the further development of it. We talked extensively with Khosrovi, General Secretary of the Federation Dr. Alihuseyn Birandvend, as well as with the local representative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports – Shirvin Esbegian. The IRWF has prepared a preliminary contract. I read it and notified that we would give detailed information about it to our officials, and would introduce our additions as well. I proposed the direct signing ceremony of the memorandum be postponed for a while. Since the temporary management operates in IRWF and the presidential elections will be held on July 7. Once the new management has been identified, we will first congratulate them, and then we will take steps to sign the memorandum and put it into action without losing any further. My proposal was welcomed. Let me add that I also familiarized with the conditions of the IRWF in Tehran. Everything was wonderful. As here, they have also built weightlifting academy-type buildings. Places as training, accommodation, nutrition, competition and etc. are compact and close to each other. I got acquainted with the food ration of the Iranian national team, tasted and liked it. I was informed that there are uninterrupted training-camps almost every months of the year. The development of weightlifting in Iran is at a high level. Main members of the national team perform well in the world arena. We want to take advantage of their experience. We are ready to learn new methods though we have also enough experience. For example, the extensive use of psychological services in their national team caught my attention. The Iranian side is constantly working to improve the psychological state of its athletes, and this is a great help in upgrading the results. I am convinced that the Iranian delegation will also be acquainted with our weightlifting when they are invited here and they will express their same consent. ” The activity of “Zirve” International Sport Clubs, one of the largest weightlifting clubs in the world, has also attracted great interest in Iran. According to Rizvan Rasulov, the work of President Tofig Heydarov has been especially emphasized and repeatedly expressed great sympathy. They are aware of the existence of such a big club in the neighboring country and want to take part in the next competitions, benefit from the bases.
Speaking on the points to be noted in the memorandum signed at the end, Rasulov said: “This memorandum, which will be signed between the federations, is of great importance. We have discussed here various staff exchanges between the parties, studying of the training process and exchange of experience, joint discussions and researches of experts in this direction, exchange of referees, vital medical knowledge exchange and, of course, mutual exchange of training-camp. In the event of conciliation, we will allow the Iranian team to hold training-camps at one of our locations and we will cover all their expenses, and at the same time, they will also meet our expenses when our team goes to Iran for preparations in the place we chose. We think it will be efficient for both sides”.
