ARAF awards best sportsmen
By Amina Nazarli
Azerbaijan Equestrian Federation has organized an awarding ceremony to honor the best sportsmen.
At the opening ceremony held at the Bina Equestrian Center in Baku, a book titled “Karabakh horses” was presented to the guests. Also, a film about ARAF’s competitions and achievements was screened during the event.
Addressing the event, Elchin Guliyev, President of the
Federation noted that 2014 was very successful for the ARAF. Many
domestic and international competitions were held, where the
national sportsmen gained good results.
Today, Azerbaijan is known as a sport country throughout the world.
The national sportsmen gained big successes in the European and
World championships, Olympic Games and several other international
competitions.
The Federation is rapidly developing. The most significant event was the meeting of the International Equestrian Federation General Assembly attended by Princess Haya bint Al Hussein of Jordan, which was held in Baku on December 11-14, he noted.
Some 350 federation representatives and influential guests from 110 countries visited the capital. This figure was a record number in the history of the FEI General Assembly. The election of the new FEI’s president was also held in that meeting, where Ingmar De Vos (Belgium) was elected as the new president of the FEI.
“Baku proved that it is able to hold any international
competition at the very high level,” Guliyev said.
A special attention is paid to the breeding of the national horses
and their promotion worldwide, Guliyev further added.
He wished successes to the sportsmen at the international competitions.
Bahruz Nabiyev, ARAF’s Secretary General also talked about the organizations’ achievements in 2014.
He counted the significant events including World Polo Cup, which will be held in Baku in 2015, the Heydar Aliyev Cup International Tournament, which annually has been held since 2009, as well as Chovgan competition, which has been held in Baku for the third time and others.
He added that the federation is preparing the sportsmen for the Olympic Gmaes 2016, which will be held in Brazil.
Following the event, the awarding ceremony was held. Guliyev awarded the best sportsmen and teams with diplomas and special prizes.
The event ended with a festive and screening of a film about the meeting of the International Equestrian Federation General Assembly in Baku.