Azerbaijani Olympic champion: They say the rules were changed because of me

How was your training in Minsk going?

Everything was normal. Teams from Turkey, Latvia and Kazakhstan trained together with us. There was no sparring though. We were training every day. I think now we look better.

Do you plan change your weight category?

I will change it to 81 kg (previously it was 73 kg).

Do you plan to participate in the European championship?

It depends on coach Agayar Akhundzade. I will probably miss it. Euro has no license status. In May, I plan to go to Tunisia to secure a license.

What can you say about new rules?

New rules are against European judo fighters, who have already asked to cancel some of the rules. We are told that there will be no changes till London. Friends from Russia even say that they were changed because of me.

Most of my tricks in one way or another are connected with legs. So, they banned the best thing I had. However, this applies not only to me, but also eight World Cup winning judo fighters from Georgia, who are going to retire. We all understand that now only Asia will win medals in judo.

You have been outside of sport for the past 19 months. They say that you do not want to fight anymore?

Those who do not love me say this. I want to return, but not to lose. Previously, I was more confident, but now, after rules were changed, I do not even know what to say.

Can we say that you're starting all over again?

Coaches also say that now we must learn everything as a first-grade pupils. We have practiced for 15 years refining techniques alone, but now we are told that we should work on other techniques. Techniques like "mill" and "karyaga" have been banned. There are also problems related to refereeing. We have often witnessed how the referees favor athletes from neighboring countries. In general, I am not sure what to do next.


/Azerisport.com/