Belarus and UAE get closer via judo project

Expansion of bilateral cooperation in various areas of the Olympic movement was discussed at the meeting between Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Belarus Polina Golovina and the leadership of the National Olympic Committee of the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE NOC representatives were interested in various sports exchanges as well as in the practices of the Belarusian judo school (there is an Olympic judo school in Abu Dhabi). They also expressed interest in the development of such sports as shooting and taekwondo. Belarus, in turn, suggested organizing a visit of 2004 Olympic champion Ihar Makarau, who continues his sporting activity as a coach and founder of the judo school, to the judo school in Abu Dhabi. This will be one of the first practical steps in the development of international cooperation between the two organizations.

Belarus has always been present at the Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi. Top judoka Maryna Slutskaya took a gold medal at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in 2018 and at the first Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in 2014 Dzmitry Shershan took the first Belarus gold medal. The junior team of Belarus was very successful at the Junior World Championships in 2015 taking bronze and Daniela Kazanoi claimed the Police World title in Abu Dhabi in 2017, all examples where Belarus took part in various judo events in Belarus.

The main topic of the meeting was, of course, the preparations for the Olympic Games amid a difficult epidemiological situation, the possibility of organizing joint training camps and projects to popularize the Olympic movement.

Polina Golovina invited the UAE NOC delegation to take part in the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the NOC of Belarus. There are plans to consolidate further areas of cooperation by signing a memorandum of cooperation this year.