Two athletes' ages artificially reduced in Azerbaijan

Baku. 4 December. REPORT.AZ/ It was revealed that two athletes' ages were artificially reduced, during the final round of freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling of Sports Schools Republican Games VII held in Balakan. Report was informed by the head of the sports education sector of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mutalib Hasanov.

According to him, the forgery was revealed while measuring weight in accordance with the card with holograms and picture on it that was prepared by the ministry for the athletes over the age of 11.

The wrestlers who came to measuring weight with others' cards were not allowed to compete. Their coaches were warned: "We would not like to prevent such cases with administrative measures. We particularly prefer pedagogical methods. By taking into consideration the psychological factors, we do not announce the names of those athletes and their coaches."

M.Hasanov stated that significant progress was achieved in the fight against the age forgery for recent years: "Though 80% of lower-age-group athletes was "fraud" 5-6 years ago, now it is very rare. Since we register all the athletes over the age of 11."