Secretary General: "We believe that our sumo wrestlers will win gold medals at the World Championship to be held in Azerbaijan"

We believe that our sumo wrestlers will win gold medals at the World Championship to be held in Azerbaijan.

This was stated by Elshad Karimov, Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Japan Martial Arts and Culture Association, in an interview with "Report", while talking about the World Sumo Championship to be held in the country in 2026.

The official of the organization stated that it has not yet been determined where the competition will be held:

"The candidate countries were presented at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Sumo Federation in Poland. In the last fight between Azerbaijan and Brazil, our country won by a majority of votes. The championship will be held in September 2026. Preparations will start next month. As for where the competition will be held, negotiations are underway and will be announced to the public after the decision is made."

He also answered the question about how many athletes Azerbaijan will be represented by at the World Championship:

"The athletes who will participate in the World Championship will be determined based on the results recorded in various international and local tournaments this year. It is difficult to predict now how many athletes we will be represented by. We have never had a world sumo champion before. We believe that our sumo wrestlers will win gold medals at the World Championship to be held in Azerbaijan. Until the World Championship, sumo wrestlers are expected to participate in various training camps, local and international competitions."