Alinejad: We kept the light of sports on in the most difficult conditions/sanctions did not prevent Iran's success

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, in a press conference held in the presence of mass media, described the Iranian sports caravan in the 20th Nagoya Asian Games.

According to Arjan's ambassador, Mahdi Alinejad, secretary of the National Olympic Committee, said in a press conference on the performance of the Iranian caravan in the Nagoya Asian Games: "After the Paris Olympics, our most important goal was to succeed in Nagoya and to be able to have a good Asian Games." The Games of the Islamic countries was an important stop for the Asian Games and Nagoya is also an important stop for the Olympics. We took many measures to play our part in this field. We had 150 specialized meetings with sports federations.

Referring to the measures taken to prepare the athletes, the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee stated: All these measures have been taken along the duties of the National Olympic Committee to support championship sports and help the federations. In this regard, we held about 150 specialized meetings with sports federations related to the Asian Games; Both the federations whose athletes were sent to these competitions and the groups that ultimately did not decide to send them. Our effort was to provide the best possible conditions for the country's sports complex through planning and coordination.

Alinejad further mentioned the role of the National Olympic Academy in the preparation process of the athletes and said: The National Olympic Academy served the national teams in different dimensions during this period. Various measures were taken, from holding training camps and preparation camps to carrying out specialized tests. The issue of measuring athletes' performance is very important, and the academy was able to play an effective role in this field so that coaches can have a more accurate picture of the athletes' condition with the help of expert guidance and, if necessary, make the necessary corrections in training programs.

He added: Sports psychology services were also provided to the national teams so that the athletes would be supported in this regard. In the field of nutrition, continuous consultations were provided and we tried to provide a set of specialized services to the expedition teams. Also, bodybuilding programs related to the Asian Games were implemented, and experts in this field, after examining the conditions of the athletes, provided the necessary suggestions to modify and improve the training programs.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee pointed out other actions of this series: In addition to the technical and specialized support, we also tried to provide the necessary financial resources so that the national federations and teams can prepare themselves to participate in these competitions with more suitable conditions. Also, several workshops were held for the supervisors of the expedition teams, and even with the coordination of the International Olympic Committee, a training course was planned, the documents of which were presented with the relevant signature; What happened for the first time in this framework.

In another part of his speech, Alinejad discussed the measures taken to facilitate the sending of the Iranian convoy and stated: One of our main goals was to send the athletes and their companions to this event with the best possible quality, travel a shorter route and reach the venue without any problems. Due to the sanctions against Iran, the deployment process was accompanied by limitations. For example, the postcards of the caravan members served as visas, and without having these documents, it was not possible for the athletes to participate in the competitions. For this reason, we tried to provide all the necessary preparations for the presence of the caravan members despite the existing restrictions.

Regarding the measures taken to return the members of the Iranian convoy, Alinejad said: Several measures were taken to return to the country safely around 120 members of the convoy, of course, due to the existing conditions, a smaller number of them participated in the competitions. Considering the problems that existed in the hosting sector, we tried to make Iranian athletes less involved in these issues. Certainly, in a championship sport where the competition is about seconds and details, even a five percent reduction in adverse conditions can have a direct impact on an athlete's performance. We tried our best not to let such problems affect the results of the athletes.

He continued: In the monitoring and monitoring center of the National Olympic Committee, the athletes' information was checked on a daily basis and their conditions and problems were evaluated with the help of artificial intelligence. Cases that needed to be followed up were transferred to the relevant departments, and in some cases, issues related to the provinces were referred to the Ministry of Sports and Youth. Our policy was to pay attention to each and every athlete who is sent to the competition; Especially the athletes who had the chance to win medals and their status was evaluated in a special way.

Referring to the conditions of the country at the time of the Games, the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee stated: We must note that we were in one of the most difficult conditions in the country after the revolution. The war that started on June 23 last year created difficult conditions for the country and athletes, coaches, federations and sports complexes were also affected by its consequences. Even in some cases, our teams could not participate in official competitions due to the lack of flights. Despite all these restrictions, our athletes had to appear on the field as representatives of Iran and do their duty.

Alinejad added: Iranian sports had an important responsibility in such a situation; That it can make people happy and help strengthen national identity and unity. I believe that the successes achieved are not the result of the efforts of a single group, but the result of extensive efforts that start from the basic coaches in the cities and continue to the city and provincial boards, sports departments, federations, clubs and the Ministry of Sports and Youth. All these collections played a role in the formation of the results of the Iranian caravan.

Referring to the trend of Iran's results in the previous Asian Games, he pointed out: After Iran's success in the 2010 Asian Games and winning the fourth place, the results of our country's caravan in the following periods went down and Iran's place in the medals table was reduced. However, in the difficult conditions of this period, we were able to once again strengthen the medal winning path and reach the number of gold medals close to the Jakarta period. This shows that Iranian sports still have a high capacity and can once again return to the position it had in the past.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee further emphasized: the obtained results showed that Iranian sports have the ability to create vitality and hope in the society. I believe that the medal-winning capacity of the Iranian convoy was even more than the number of gold medals that we won in the end, and this matter should be taken into consideration in the evaluation of athletes' performance and planning for future events.

Appreciating the performance of Iranian female athletes in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Alinejad said: In addition to the important events that took place during this period, I must mention the historical success of Iranian sports in the women's division. If we examine the history of Iran's participation in the Asian Games from 1951 to before the Islamic Revolution, the importance of the achievements of this period becomes more clear. Iranian girls had a historic performance in these competitions and by winning about 16 medals, they showed that investing and supporting women's sports can bring valuable results.

He continued: We have passed the period when we only talked about the necessity of sending girls to competitions, and today we are witnessing their effective participation and medal winning in important competitions. This trend is not limited to the Nagoya Asian Games. If we also examine the results of the Islamic Games in Riyadh or the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, we will find that Iranian female athletes have taken a significant share of the medals. This shows that the growth of women's sports has been one of the most important and promising events in Iran's sports in recent years.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee emphasized the necessity of continuing to support female athletes and stated: I believe that Iran's sports capacity, especially in the women's section, is greater than what we have displayed so far. Because part of this capacity has not yet been fully realized. If we can support female athletes with a more serious approach and provide them with more opportunities, we can see better results in the future.

Alinejad added: The entry of Iranian female athletes into new disciplines and participation in competitions that they had not experienced before has created new opportunities for winning medals. In some disciplines, our girls participated for the first time and even reached the final stages. This incident shows that we should not limit women's sports capacity only to traditional and regular disciplines; We should also provide the opportunity to participate in new fields.

Referring to Iran's gymnastics performance, he said: In gymnastics, winning two silver medals was a valuable event. If the second movement of our athlete was performed with better quality, there was even a possibility of winning Iran's first gold medal in this field. These results show that according to the existing capacities, it is possible to achieve more success in fields that have received less attention before.

In another part of his speech, Alinejad mentioned the results of various sports disciplines and stated: In addition to the remarkable performance of women, Iran's traditional and medal-winning disciplines also achieved valuable results. Wrestling had a successful performance and weightlifting was able to win the gold medal again in the Asian Games. Karate also repeated its results and taekwondo had an important contribution to the success of the Iranian caravan by winning two gold medals.

He continued: The return of disciplines such as wushu and athletics to the medal-winning disciplines of Iran was also very important. These results show that besides the fields from which we always expect medals, there are other capacities that can contribute to the success of the country's sports with proper planning and support.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee pointed to the variety of medal-winning disciplines of the Iranian convoy and noted: One of the important points of Iran's performance in this period was winning medals in 21 sports, which is considered a historical achievement in terms of the variety of medal-winning disciplines. This shows that the success of the caravan is not limited to only a few disciplines and that Iranian sports have the capacity to compete and win medals in various fields.

Alinejad also mentioned the performance of volleyball and other team disciplines and said: Volleyball being among the top four teams and reaching the finals after many years was a valuable event. Repetition of such results can help to strengthen the position of Iranian sports in Asian competitions and shows that the path of progress is being formed again in some disciplines.

At the end of this part of his speech, referring to the heavy competition of Asian countries in the medal table, he stated: As Asghar Rahimi also pointed out, the distance between Iran's caravan and the fourth place was not so great, and to reach that rank, we only needed two gold medals. It is noteworthy that some of Iran's higher competitors, including China, South Korea and Uzbekistan, won fewer gold medals compared to the previous period, but Iran's convoy managed to improve its performance.

Appreciating the performance of the Iranian convoy in the Asian Games, Alinejad said: When we compare the results with the performance of competing countries, we realize that the quality of the Iranian convoy was at a suitable level. For example, Kazakhstan had almost twice as many athletes as Iran, and Thailand also participated with about 680 athletes. Considering these conditions, I believe that the Iranian convoy had a good qualitative performance.

He continued: "For the future, we must follow several issues seriously." First, we should strengthen the disciplines in which we have a relative advantage and have more detailed planning in the disciplines that have the capacity to win gold medals. In addition to this issue, we must also activate the new capacities of Iranian sports; As in some fields, we saw the winning of valuable medals. This capacity exists in the country's sports and it can be turned into a result with proper planning.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee stated: "The performance of this period was a forward movement, but we need much more effort in order to achieve better results in the upcoming Asian Games." We must strengthen the success chain of Iranian sports and continue the path of progress with greater coordination between the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports, federations and other related departments. If athletes can train with less anxiety and in more suitable conditions, the possibility of achieving better results will also increase.

In the end, Alinejad pointed out the difficult conditions of sending the Iranian convoy and noted: Part of these competitions were spent in war conditions, and the work of sending the convoy was done exactly the day after the ceasefire. Some members of the caravan took a 57-hour land route to reach the competition venue. Despite all these difficulties, Iranian athletes were able to obtain valuable results. This shows that the sports capacity of the country is high and we hope that with the provision of better conditions, we will see more successes for Iran in the future.

The secretary of the National Olympic Committee said about how you will deal with the federations that promised medals but did not get results: Federations had made promises that were not fulfilled, we ourselves had predicted many scenarios that were between 15 and 17 golds. The monitoring center of the national teams is currently investigating the weaknesses and strengths and pathology in order to analyze the reasons for the failures and transfer it to the federations. Let the committee base the future support according to the results, and the successful ones will be supported more and the unsuccessful ones will be supported less.

Regarding the sending of basketball teams to the Asian Games and that it was said that the committee was against this sending, he stated: In many meetings, there were cases where the committee was not in favor of sending, but the ministry and the federation insisted. While respecting the independence of the National Committee, we obeyed the Ministry's opinion with respect to the Minister of Sports. There was no case about basketball that was not going to be sent. They also promised a bronze medal.

Alinejad, in response to criticisms about the number of companions and additional dispatches to the Nagoya Asian Games, stated: The members of the executive board are responsible for guiding and supervising the affairs of the National Olympic Committee based on the statute and their responsibilities. This year, more than 50% of the budget of the National Olympic Committee has been allocated to the Asian Games, and it is natural that the members of the executive board are responsible for this event as representatives of the assembly.

He continued: The duties of these people are not only limited to attending the matches, but also include planning, making decisions, following up on international issues and solving problems before the games, during and after the games. In a caravan with about 520 people from 38 sports, there are many events and issues that need to be decided for their management. These decisions are not made individually, but are the result of collective coordination and decision making.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee stated: many problems that are solved during the competitions, basically do not reach the media; Because before it becomes a serious problem, a solution has been found for them. The members of the executive board, based on their statutory responsibilities, must be present in matters related to international relations and executive issues of the games and help the organizing team and the caravan supervision.

Alinejad, pointing out that the expedition companions were present to provide services and support the caravan, emphasized: the purpose of sending this group was not entertainment; Rather, we were trying to get the best possible results for the athletes by providing the right conditions.

In response to the incident that happened to Iran's runner Umbizadeh in the Asian Games, he emphasized that the Athletics Federation should have reviewed the specialized regulations related to athletes' equipment and that the National Olympic Committee is not responsible for monitoring the technical details of all disciplines.

Alinejad stated: The information and regulations contained in the games guide are continuously reviewed and whenever a new version of these instructions is published, it is provided to the relevant federations after translation. However, some specialized regulations are not included in the general documents of the games, and their compliance depends on the rules of the international federations of each discipline.

He continued: In athletics, the regulations related to shoes are subject to the rules of the World Federation, and not necessarily all the details are mentioned in the Asian Games guide. For this reason, the examination of this matter is primarily the responsibility of the specialized federation. It cannot be expected that the National Olympic Committee will expertly review all the technical details and equipment of athletes in all disciplines.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, referring to the equipment at the disposal of Umbizadeh, stated: the federation had provided the athlete with the best shoes, but apparently they were not aware of the legal ban on the used shoes. This incident was very sad and we should learn from it. In addition to providing the right equipment, the federations are required to carefully follow the specialized regulations and related updates.

Emphasizing the need to separate the duties of the National Olympic Committee and the federations, Alinejad noted: the responsibility of the committee is to provide general conditions and manage the general affairs of the caravan, but the specialized details of each discipline must be checked by the relevant federation so that such incidents do not happen again in future competitions.

The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, also emphasizing the need to evaluate the performance of the federations in the Asian Games, stated that the federations that failed to meet the expectations will continue to receive less support.

Alinejad clarified about the promises made to win the gold medal: it cannot be said that every promise made before the competition necessarily meant guaranteeing the gold medal by an athlete or the federation. The overall capacity of each field and the conditions of the competitions should be considered and performance should be evaluated accordingly.

He continued: Comparing the results of this period with the past Asian Games and examining the performance of famous countries in different disciplines shows that the level of competition is high and winning a medal in such conditions is not an easy task.