Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

A ceremonial presentation of the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Azerbaijani capital of Baku in May 2017, was held in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro on May 7.

More than sixty guests attended the ceremony, including Azerbaijan’s Youth and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov, Vice-President of the National Olympic Committee Chingiz Huseynzade, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Brazil Elnur Sultanov, Director of the Operating Committee of the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games Elchin Safarov and the Head of the Azerbaijani delegation at the Olympic Games in Rio Ilham Madatov.

Addressing the event Rahimov said that so far, Azerbaijan has held a number of high-caliber sports events, including the European Games, the Formula-1 European Gran-Prix, as well as other European and World championships.

He emphasized that Azerbaijan's goal is to hold the upcoming 4th Islamic Solidarity Games at a high level, to showcase the beauty of Islamic religion and to establish friendly and warm relations between peoples.

He informed the participants over 5,000 athletes will compete in 20 sports disciplines that during the 12 days of competition.

Rahimov's speech was followed by a showcase of a film devoted to the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games.

After the film, Rahimov held the Q&A session, answering questions about the preparation period for the games, accreditation, sports venues and so on.

The Islamic Solidarity Games is a multinational and multi-sport event involving the elite athletes of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, which is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the UN with 57 member states spread over four continents.

The decision to hold the fourth Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku was made at the eighth General Assembly of the ISSF in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in July 2013.

The official opening ceremony and closing of the fourth Islamic Solidarity Games will be held at the Baku Olympic Stadium.

The Games will bring together athletes from 57 countries under the slogan “Solidarity is our power”. More than 160 Azerbaijani sportsmen are expected to participate in the Games. The Muslim religion of all athletes is not a pre-condition for participation in the competition.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz