Federation official: "We have applied to host the European Championship in Azerbaijan in 2026"

We have applied to host the European Championship in Azerbaijan in 2026.

This was stated by Gunel Badalova, Secretary General of the Winter Sports Federation, in her statement to the Northern Bureau of "Report" at the opening ceremony of the Ski Mountaineering World Cup held in "Shahdag".

According to her, Azerbaijan will host several more prestigious sports competitions in the coming years:

"It is a matter of pride to hold the Ski Mountaineering World Cup in "Shahdag". Athletes representing Kazakhstan and Qatar are participating in the World Cup for the first time. 108 athletes from 26 countries are competing in the competition. 36 of them are women and 72 are men. We hope that the Azerbaijan Winter Sports Federation will not be limited to this and will host several more prestigious sports competitions. We have already applied to the International Ski Mountaineering Federation to host the European Ski Mountaineering Championship in Azerbaijan in 2026. We believe that we will successfully pass the selections and start preparing for the tournament next year. Our goal is also to host the World Championship in 2027."

It should be noted that the World Cup is considered one of the qualifying competitions for obtaining a license for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. The competition, which started today with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, the Azerbaijan Winter Sports Federation and the "Shahdag" Tourism Center, will end on January 13.

Azerbaijan is represented by Nazrin Garibova and Seyid Sadreddinov in the World Cup.