Azerbaijan awards heroes of Baku 2015

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijani athletes who raised the Azerbaijani flag 56 times during the inaugural European Games Baku 2015 and won the hearts of Azerbaijani people will be rewarded for their efforts.

The host country won second place in the overall ranking of the Baku 2015 with 21 gold, 15 silver and 20 bronze medals.

Overall, Azerbaijan will present over 8 million manats (over $7.6 million) to both medalists and their personal trainers.

Moreover, under the order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the National Olympic Committee will pay 3.45 million manats to the gold medalists and their personal trainers, 1.895 million manats to silver medalists and their coaches, while the bronze medalists and their personal coaches will receive 2.66 million manats.

The athlete who reached gold in the European Games will be awarded 150,000 manats ($143,034) overall from the state and the NOC. The personal trainer of the champion will receive 75,000 manats ($71,517).

The second place winner will be awarded with 80,000 manats ($76,284), while the coach will get 40,000 manats ($38,142).

The bronze winner will enjoy 50,000 manats ($47,678) and his personal trainer will get 25,000 manats ($23,839).

The prize for the winners is a significant incentive for the further achievements, as the Summer Olympics in Rio in 2016 nears and even greater results are expected.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani President has ordered to reward the coaches of the athletes who performed successfully at the First European Games.

The staff of the Operating Committee of the Baku 2015 European Games was awarded with order of Friendship “Dostlug”.

To conduct the European Games at the level of Summer Olympics, Azerbaijan has spent 960 million manats, Azerbaijan’s Youth and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov said.

“It was spent on salaries, ceremonies, information technologies, temporary infrastructure. Despite the devaluation of the manat, we fit it into the initial budget, although it was possible to expect an increase of the 30 to 40 percent,” he said.

As for the revenue of the Games, the organizing committee has currently received 15-17 million manats from the sale of tickets, sponsors, and broadcasting rights.