IJF Education and Coaching Director Mohammed Meridja

Mohammed Meridja, IJF Education and Coaching Director, is always impressed by events held in Georgia. Without a certain emotion, he explained how he started here as an athlete (6 participations, between 1980 and 1987): "It was a real adventure to come here and I think that in the minds of the athletes today, this dimension has not disappeared.

"When I came here to participate, I used to arrive from my native Algeria. The tournament used to take place at the beginning of February. From Algiers to Moscow, the shock was huge, as we were leaving a mild weather to -30°C within a few hours of flight. Then we would arrive in Tbilisi and suddenly we would enter another world.

"I remember the incredible public, at that time mainly men, all dressed in leather jackets, with their chapka on their heads. The stadium was packed from the morning, but what always marked me was the knowledge of this public, which was able to referee with accuracy at the same time as the referees themselves.

"The competition was very strong between the former-Soviet athletes and all we hoped was not to meet one of them in the first round. The Georgians had a very beautiful judo and we could feel that we were, so to speak, in the cradle of Russian judo of the time.

Meridja also explained the important role that the IJF plays today in the field of education and coaching: "We currently have two major projects. One in the field of aid to continents and federations so that they can more efficiently structure themselves and achieve greater autonomy and the other so that as soon as possible all coaches who officiate on the verge of tatami have a recognised qualification. For this, the role of the IJF Academy is crucial."

Mr. Meridja being also the first vice-president of the African Judo Union, in charge of technical development, explained what will be the next stages of development on the African continent: "A new team is in place under the leadership of President Habib Sissoko. We have already begun to develop skills in the field of katas. The IJF offered us the services of an expert, Mr. Piero Comino, who is touring the countries. We also set up a program so that at least one coach per country can integrate the IJF Academy.

And at the next African Championships in Madagascar, we will detect the young talents who will then be able to integrate the IJF training centre based in Hungary. All this in order to prepare our athletes for the Tokyo Games in 2020."