MAY 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pushing aside its disagreements, Georgia said it would send a team to the Winter Olympics in Russia next year. Relations between Georgia and Russia have improved steadily since a war in 2008 although the Georgian Olympic Committee had considered boycotting the Winter Games, set to be hosted by Sochi on the Black Sea coast.
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(News report from Issue No. 134, published on May 6 2013)
APRIL 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Bulat Utemuratov, one of Kazakhstan’s richest men and an associate of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is apparently weighing up buying into Italian soccer club Inter Milan, Italy’s media reported. Some of the richest men in the former Soviet states have invested in European soccer clubs over the past decade.
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(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)
APRIL 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Russian ice-hockey star playing for a Kazakh team died after being hit in the head by an opposition player, media reported. Dmitry Uchaykin, who was playing for Pavlodar in northern Kazakhstan, died from a brain haemorrhage the day after the match. He had driven himself home but felt increasingly unwell in the night.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
JAN. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan is close to agreeing a deal with top Spanish soccer side Athletico Madrid to sponsor their shirt for the next 1-1/2 seasons, media reported. Flush with cash from energy revenues, Azerbaijan has been on an international marketing drive.
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(News report from Issue No. 119, published on Jan. 11 2013)
DEC. 8 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Much to the delight of the Azerbaijani authorities who have been heavily marketing their capital city, Baku will host the inaugural European Olympic Games in 2015. The 41-member European Olympic Committee approved Baku’s bid, it was actually the only application, to hold the event at a meeting in Rome.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
AUG. 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – At the Olympic Games in London, Kazakhstan wanted to beat their previous best medals haul of three golds from both Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. They did, easily, with seven gold medals in cycling, weightlifting, long jump and boxing.
Kazakhstan was placed twelfth in the rankings, with the same gold medal haul as Australia. For the others, the Games were less successful.
Turkmenistan failed to win a medal and one of its boxing referees was sent home after
failing to stop a one-sided fight. An Uzbek gymnast faced even greater humiliation after she was disqualified for doping. Uzbekistan did win one gold medal in the men’s wrestling. There were no golds for either Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, although a Tajik woman won a boxing bronze.
Azerbaijan had talked up their boxing hopes before the Games but the best it could manage was a bronze medal. They also had one coach sent home for cheating. In wrestling Azerbaijan won two golds along with another two silver and three bronze medals.
Georgia won its gold medal in judo . Neighbouring Armenia won three medals, but no gold.
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(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)
JULY 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia has complained to the London Olympic Games for placing the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Russia, media reported. On the London 2012 website, the birthplaces of two of Russia’s wrestlers, born in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, were followed by “(Rus)” indicating they are in Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 098, published on July 27 2012)
MAY 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Hours after hearing that its bid to host the 2020 summer Olympic Games had been rejected, Azerbaijan announced that it would prepare a joint bid with Georgia to host the 2020 European soccer championship. The soccer tournament is one of the biggest in the world and would involve major investment in infrastructure.
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(News report from Issue No. 090, published on June 1 2012)
MAY 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejected Baku’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games. Baku had been one of five bids considered at the initial stage of the selection process but was dropped for being unrealistic. The IOC also rejected Doha’s bid. The remaining candidates are Madrid, Istanbul and Tokyo.
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(News report from Issue No. 089, published on May 25 2012)
MARCH 30 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s soccer team lost 2-0 to Oman in playoffs to win a place at the Olympic Games, ending its bid to become the first Central Asian or South Caucasus nation to play in a global soccer tournament. Uzbekistan lost a 2-0 lead against the UAE in Tashkent earlier in March, a victory that would have won them an automatic place at the Olympics.
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(News report from Issue No. 082, published on April 6 2012)
