Azeri wrestlers not to attend Moscow tournament

The Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestlers won’t be competing in an international tournament in honor of famous Russian wrestler Ivan Poddubny to be held in Moscow. The failure is due to the wrestlers’ infection with influenza.

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism told AssA-Irada that the Azerbaijani sportsmen failed to hold general training and some athletes invited to the national team by head coach Elchin Jafarov had become ill.

The Moscow tournament was to be preparation for the Azerbaijani wrestlers for an international tournament to be held in Istanbul, Turkey early February which is to determine the 2004 Athens Olympics qualifiers. The national athletes are scheduled to leave for Turkey after holding general training in Baku.*