Richard Trautmann, the head coach of the Azerbaijani national team, hopes that Olympic champion Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) will learn from the disciplinary action taken by the Azerbaijan Judo Federation.
The German specialist stated this in an interview with "Report".
Trautmann, who is also the performance director of the team, commented on the athlete's exclusion from the "Grand Slam" tournament held in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, for failing to make weight:
"Hidayat is one of the most important figures in Azerbaijani judo. He is an Olympic, world, and four-time European champion. But regardless of who he is, discipline is our number one priority. Everyone must follow the rules. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to compete in Tashkent because he could not make weight. For this reason, appropriate measures were taken by the federation. I hope that Hidayat will learn from this. Personally, I am fully confident in his potential to become a world and Olympic champion in the future. Everything depends on him and his approach to work."
You can read the full version of Richard Trautmann's interview here.