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Sport in Azerbaijan has ancient roots, and even now, both traditional and modern sports are still practiced. Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally regarded as Azerbaijan's national sport, however today, the most popular sports in Azerbaijan are football (soccer) and chess.^[1]

[edit] History

[edit] Traditional sports

[edit] Wrestling

Wrestling remains a historically important sport of Azerbaijan and often even referred to as its national sport.^[2]

Both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, particularly freestyle, are popular in Azerbaijan.

With a history of great wrestlers, such as Namig Abdullayev, Farid Mansurov, Rovshan Bayramov, Mariya Stadnik, Azerbaijan is considered among the elite nations in this sport.

[edit] Board games

[edit] Backgammon

Main article: Backgammon

Backgammon is a game that has ancient roots in Persian Empire and plays major role in Azerbaijani culture.^[3] This game is very popular in Azerbaijan and widely played among local public.^[4] There are also different variations of backgammon developed and analysed by Azerbaijani experts.^[5]

[edit] Chess

Main article: Chess

Azerbaijan men's chess team

Azerbaijan is known as one of the chess superpowers and despite the collapse of Soviet Union, chess is still extremely popular.^[6]^[7] Notable chess players of Azerbaijan includes Teimour Radjabov, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Vladimir Makogonov, Gary Kasparov, Vugar Gashimov and Zeinab Mamedyarova. Azerbaijan has also hosted many international chess tournaments and competitions and became European Team Chess Championship winners in 2009.^[8]

In 2009, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev issued an order to improve development of chess in the Azerbaijan from 2009 to 2014 period.^[9]

[edit] Popular sports

[edit] Football (soccer)

Main articles: Football in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan national football team, and List of football clubs in Azerbaijan

Rashad Sadygov

Football (soccer) is popular in Azerbaijan, the most internationally known player being Rashad Sadygov, who played for PFC Neftchi Baku, FK Karabakh, Kayserispor, Kocaelispor and Azerbaijan national football team. Other famous Azerbaijani players include: Zaur Ramazanov, Kazbek Tuayev, Nazim Suleymanov, Vali Gasimov, Gurban Gurbanov, Vidadi Rzayev, Zaur Tagizade and Mahmud Gurbanov.

1960s is considered Golden Age for Azerbaijani football, as it produced great players like Anatoliy Banishevskiy, Alakbar Mammadov and football referee Tofik Bakhramov, who's most famous for being a linesman who helped to award a goal for England in the 1966 World Cup Final between England and West Germany.^[10]

The top football teams in Azerbaijan are FK Baku, PFC Neftchi Baku, FK Karabakh and Khazar Lankaran.

[edit] Futsal

Azerbaijan achieved far more success in futsal than football. In the late 1980's, it was here that influenced the creation of the Russian futsal club MFK Dina Moskva, who dominated the futsal in post-Soviet countries during 1990's.^[11] Azerbaijani national futsal team and clubs like Araz Naxçivan achieved significant results in Europe, so it is not surprising that the sport enjoys wide popularity in the country.^[12]

[edit] Martial arts

Martial arts like judo have also brought many medals to this country, namely Elnur Mammadli who conquered gold at the European Championships and 2008 Summer Olympics in the -73 kg category, and Movlud Miraliyev who won the bronze medal iat the 2008 Summer Olympics and World Judo Championships in 2003.^[13]

[edit] Rhythmic gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics in Azerbaijan

In recent years, rhythmic gymnastics developed rapidly in Azerbaijan. Many Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnasts such as Aliya Garayeva, Anna Gurbanova and Dinara Gimatova are among the leading rhythmic gymnasts in the world.

[edit] Rugby

Main article: Rugby union in Azerbaijan

[edit] Volleyball

[edit] Weightlifting

[edit] Olympic Games

Main article: Azerbaijan at the Olympics

Azerbaijan first participated at the Olympic Games as an independent nation in 1996, and has sent athletes to compete in every Games since then.

Azerbaijan has participated in the following Summer Olympic Games to date:

Azerbaijan has participated in the following Winter Olympic Games to date:

[edit] References

[0] Культура, традиции и искусство (Russian)

[1] Sport History in Azerbaijan

[2] Backgammon History (Russian)

[3] Нарды – игра, требующая сноровки и удачи (Russian)

[4] История Нард (Russian)

[5] World Chess Champion

[6] Шахматы в Азербайджане (Russian)

[7] Azerbaijan’s chess team became European champion

[8] President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev issues order for approval of “State Program for development of chess in Azerbaijan in 2009-2014”

[9] Тофик Бахрамов станет одним из героев фильма, посвященного ЧМ-2006 (Russian)

[10] Укрепленный "Араз" (Russian)

[11] Alesio prepares Azerbaijan for next step

[12] Эльнур Мамедли начнет выступать на международной арене после ЧЕ (Russian)

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