Laman Hamidova on the way to becoming an international referee: From dream to reality

Laman Hamidova, a handball referee from Azerbaijan, has always dreamed of becoming an international referee.

The referee herself stated this in an interview with "Report" after the European Handball Federation registered her candidacy for international refereeing.

She said that they had always dreamed of this:

"My sister Aydan and I started playing handball at the age of 12. Unfortunately, we both ended our careers at the age of 17 due to injury. We thought we would not be able to continue in sports. But our love for handball did not allow us to stay away from this sport, and we decided to become referees. We always dreamed of becoming international referees. At that time, the distance from our house to the handball hall was 40 km. Nevertheless, we came to the hall with enthusiasm. We were also interested in the management of international referees. With this, we mastered many things related to refereeing."

L. Hamidova emphasized that the Azerbaijan Handball Federation gave them a lot of support in this direction:

"I would like to express my gratitude to the Azerbaijan Handball Federation. The Federation representatives were very supportive in this matter. We started refereeing in the Azerbaijan championship in 2020. The federation played a big role in our formation as referees. In 2023, we received the status of young referees in Europe. After the courses we participated in in 2024-2025, the European Handball Federation registered our candidacy as an international referee. This is a proud event for us. We are currently eagerly awaiting the confirmation of the decision. We believe that as international referees, we will adequately represent our country in the world arenas."

It should be noted that the candidacy of Azerbaijani handball referees - Laman and Aydan Hamidova sisters - for international refereeing has been registered by the European Handball Federation.