This year’s European Championships in Azerbaijan will see more restrictive drug testing.

More money – more possibilities.

The Azerbaijan Ministry of Sports and the EAF committee decided to allocate a certain amount of money for drug testing of contestants in this year’s European Championships.

Until now, usually some 40 tests were run, financed by the EAF. This time the numbers will double.

The president of WAF, Assen Hadjitorov, suggested to Igor Mazurenko in a telephone conversation to divide the testing phases thusly:

- Seniors who took 1^st and 2^nd places, 3^rd places randomly; both left and right hand

- Females who took 1^st places; 2^nd and 3^rd places randomly

- Juniors from 1^st to 3^rd places – randomly

The remaining tests will be divided randomly between men – 3^rd places; women – 2^nd and 3^rd places and juniors from 1 – 3^rd places.

Igor Mazurenko, vice-president of WAC has reserved that this conception may yet change, but so far organizers and federations are all satisfied with it.

If we want this sport to be treated seriously, we have to show good will in the area of drug testing, by more investing money in it – says Mazurenko.

It’s worth noting that after the drug control at the 2013 European Championships, 12 people have lost the chance to compete in the 2013 Worlds’. After the Worlds’, another 11 people tested positive for drugs and were disqualified, two of them are still undergoing procedures to explain their results.

The following people were disqualified, for left and right arm, disabled and regular. Their suspension includes all sports disciplines, worldwide. They are bound by law to return all medals won in European Championships 2013. They are suspended for a given duration of time and banned from all preparations or entries into any armwrestling events organized by WAF, EAF, international, national or local.

- Arsen LILIEV / Russia / 2 years

- Viktar BRATCHENIA /Belarus/ 2 years

- Diana BAREEVA / Russia / 2 years

- Genadi KVIKVINIA/ Georgia / 2 years

- Natalia GURCIEVA/ Russia/ 2 years

- Sinan PEHLIVAN / Turkey/ 1 year

- Ruslan MAMEDOV/ Russia/ 2 years

- Rustam BABAIEV / Ukraine/ 2 years

- Taymuraz TSAKHILOV / Russia/ 2 years

- Timur MAMEDOV/ Russia/ 2 years

- Vladislav ZHYHYLII/ Ukraine/ 2 years

- Zaza TABAGARI/ Georgia/ 2 years

Here are the results of drug testing from the 2013 World Championships in Poland.

The following contestants were suspended for 2 years, disqualified and had to return their medals:

- Alexandr GUSOV

- Aliaksandr YANKOVSKI

- Anatolii SHUSHARIN

- Walerij BARANOV

- Dmitry Trubin

- Rezo LUTIDZE

- Pavel LUNEV

These people were suspended for 1 year, , disqualified and had to return their medals:

- Olga TIMUKINA

- Snezhana BABAIEVA

Scared of flying, have to take pills ?

Be warned that Azerbaijan has very restrictive laws concerning drug trafficking. Pay special attention to what medicine you take with you, even if it is prescribed by a doctor.

If you need to ingest psychotropic drugs during flight, you need a special form signed by the General Medical Inspection, based on a prescription – separate form is required for every medicine. Doctors may prescribe such medicine only for travels no longer than 30 days.

You’ll find all forms here:

http://www2.mz.gov.pl/wwwfiles/ma_struktura/docs/zal3_narkomapozw_18082011.pdf or you can contact the Azerbaijan Embassy.

Baku, dubbed the “Paris of the East”, will be the place where armwrestlers from all over the world will fight for the title of European Champion.

What’s worth seeing?

The Medieval Old Town (Icheri Sheher). Despite many earthquakes, it still remains in great shape and has been rebuilt in style. It is listed as a UNESCO part of the World Heritage. One of Old Town’s most precious features is the stone Maiden’s Tower (Qiz Qualasi).

The Shirvan Shah Palace (Şirvanşahlar Sarayı), dating mostly from the XV-th century. It’s almost door-to-door with the Siniq Qala minaret from the second half of the XI century.

Most of the Town’s buildings date around XX century and represent various European styles. That’s why Baku is called the Paris of the East. Scores of shoppers and tourists can be seen here every day. The best boutiques and restaurants are also located there.

The most spectacular sky-scrapers are the Flame Towers – three towers shaped like flames, 190 metres high, can be seen from various points of the town.

The boardwalk – already a few kilometers long, and still growing. Hundreds of meters wide in some places, full of alleys and benches. It also has a “dancing” fountain, a modern jetty, lot of restaurants, a fun-fair, a Divan Museum and a shopping mall.

Where to go for entertainment?

Baku is famous for its nightlife. It’s full of restaurants, nightclubs and discos. The world-renown Lonely Planet guide has put Baku in the top-ten places in the world to visit for the nightlife aficionado.

How to pay?

The currency is 1 manat = 100 quepik.

There is a large currency-exchange and ATM machines network in existence (VISA, MasterCard/Eurocard, American Express and Maestro are accepted). You can pay by card in supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, gas stations and shopping malls.

What to be aware of?

Beware of any alcohol bought from unknown sources (at bazaars). There are no photographing restrictions, except in places where signs are posted not to photograph (this is especially important around borders, for example in the border zone of Nakhichewan Zone). The people of Azerbaijan like to pose for pictures, but one should always ask their permission first.

Azerbaijan is a safe country. Common crime is relatively scarce. Auto theft, robbery and violence is not a great threat here. One should remain very careful with crossing the streets, though, as car accidents do occur here on a daily basis.

Cuisine

Lamb meat is prevalent in the country’s cuisine, pork, poultry and cow meat are much harder to find. The Azerbaijan cuisine is based mostly on meat and rice. The country’s most popular dish is pilaw. Also popular are dolma – stuffed vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes, sometimes wrapped in vine leaves. Turkish cuisine is also very much present, kebabs are available everywhere. Lentil soup (mercimek çorbası) and ayran drunk with every meal are a common sight. Other world cuisines are also available. Georgian cuisine is especially interesting, with its chatchapuri and chinkali. Ukrainian, Indian and Chinese restaurants are also not hard to find in Baku.

Rules

Compared to other Muslim countries, Islam rules are not that strict here, including those that concern drinking alcohol.

Women often wear European clothes, men wear long trousers (local men never wear shorts in public, but shorts are not frowned upon in tourists).

Health and insurance

International insurance policies apply here. There are no compulsory vaccinations. Hepatitis is a large risk, tourists are also advised to vaccine against diphtheria and take anti-malaria preparations. Water should be boiled before drinking, or drank bottled, fruit and vegetables should always be washed before consumption.

In emergencies, call 103 for paramedics. Paramedic help is offered for a small charge or free thereof. There are also private paramedic companies in Baku, with more modern equipment and English-speaking personnel. Their services cost around 100 – 150 EUR. A visit to a private clinic costs around 30 EUR, 50 EUR for a specialist consultation. Dentist care costs around 80 EUR.

Transporting goods and valuables

If you need to take any valuables with you, always remember to declare them upon entering Azerbaijan (laptops, jewelry, works of art, expensive photo equipment). To transport any goods out of the country, one needs to hold onto receipts and acquire special certificates from the Ministry of Culture (specialized shops can help you in acquiring those).

Up to 0.5 kg of black caviar can be transported out of the country at one time. Up to 2000 USD can be taken into the country, however sums over 500 USD should be declared.

Severe penalties, without possibility of deportation, are dealt for possession and transportation of controlled substances and psychotropic drugs. For transportation of psychotropic drugs one needs a special doctor’s permission. Also severely punished are possession and dealing in weapons.

Following sources were used when writing this article:

http://www.kaukaz.pl/azerbejdzan/turystyka/poradnik_turysty/przepisy_meldunek.php

http://wikitravel.org/pl/Azerbejd%C5%BCan

http://podroze.onet.pl/azerbejdzan

The word “armwrestling” is translated into Azerbaijan language as “qol guleshi”.The official name of Azerbaijan Armwrestling Federation is –“Azerbaydjan Qol Guləshi Federasiyası (AQGF). In translation to Russian it will become Azerbaydjanskaya Federatsiya Rukoborstva (AFR). Later in the text we will relate to our federation as AQGF.

Azerbaijan Armwrestling Federation (AQGF) was established in 2009.The AQGF president is Jasarat Ahmadov.

Jasarat Ahmadov was born in a simple, hard-working family in 1978, in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In 1995, after graduating from high school, Jasarat Ahmadov enetered the faculty of Economics at the Azerbaijan Architecture and Construction University and graduated from this university in 2000.

In 2001-2002 he served in the Presidential Guard of the Azerbaijan Republic. He was awarded for excellent service. He has gone in for sport in 1995. He was the champion of the country in armwrestling and kung-fu.

In 2008 he was elected to the post of president of the Azerbaijan Armwrestling Federation(AFA).With Jasarat Ahmadov’s arrival to the management of AAF the sport has reached a higher level in the process of development. First of all, it was necessary to fill our youth with enthusiasm and involve them in this sport. For this purpose in 2008, under the leadership and with the help of Jasarat Ahmadov the special TV program “Over the top” was aired. Transmissions of this project on public TV channel (“Ictimai”TV) caused great interest of the audience. After this TV project armwrestling get a much wider recognition in Azerbaijan, caught the attention of people and admiration of masses. But the charter of Azerbaijan Armwrestling Federation didn't meet the new requirements and limited opportunities for development. For this reason, in 2009, J.Ahmadov founded AQGF.

In 2009, right after the establishment of AQGF for effective activity of the organization , J.Ahmadov provided his personal apartment for the main office of the federation. It is necessary to note that this apartment is situated in IchariShahar-the historical cultural city center of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. After that began a wide spread of new sports clubs and regional representations of AQGF. The purpose was set to make armwrestling a mass sport, to reveal and involve the potential of the youth. This process now proceeds dynamically. For today about 30 representations of AQGF act in more than 15 regions of the country. Certainly all these measures began to give positive results. Internal competitions are carried out at higher level and at the international competitions the Azerbaijani athletes achieve good results. In the 2009 the new television project “Over the top-2” was run. It gave new dynamics to the development of armwrestling in Azerbaijan.

Jasarat Ahmadov in his presentations at international meetings always notes the inner policy pursued by the president of Azerbaijan IlhamAliyev and directed toward the development of sport in the country. The government of the country lends every kind of support to athletes and to the matter of the development of sport. Based on this support, Jasarat Ahmadov proposed the candidacy of Azerbaijan for holding the European championships in armwrestling in 2014. In September 2009,on an EAF conference held in Italy, taking into consideration the results of a vote, it was decided to confirm the candidacy of Azerbaijan.

IN 2010AQGF realized the next teleproject “League of the strong” which was transmitted on the “Leader” TV channel. The president of EAF Assen Hadjitodorov was present at the opening ceremony of this teleproject ,he came to Baku at JasaratAhmadov’s invitation. It is necessary to note that the activity of AQGF is highly appreciated by the president of EAF.

Athletes of AQGF regularly receive invitations for participation in official affairs. Special popularity is reserved for the festive events held in honor of thr holiday of spring - “NovruzBayramı”. The president of the Azerbaijan Republic Mr.Ilham Aliyev personally takes part in these festive events held every year. It is necessary to tell that the interest shown by the head of state to our sport is one of the major factors in promoting armwrestling in Azerbaijan.

Today the organizing committee operates under the leadership of Jasarat Ahmadov, it was specially created at AQGF for preparation and carrying out of the xxıv European championships. On March 5^th the president of WAF and EAF Assen Hajitodorov came to Baku for an inspection of works on the championships. During this visit Assen Hajitodorov was in the sports-olympic center Sarhadci, where the championships will be held, and he was in several hotels chosen for the athletes. Also A.Hajitodorov had official meetings with the head of the state television channel “IdmanAzərbaycan”,with the vice- president of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan and with the Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan.