The Serbian-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce has maintained a strong sense of socially responsible and humanitarian work among its members for so many years. Among many donations that were made with the help of Association’s member companies, and all under the auspices of SAKOM, we can highlight a very successful cooperation with the Sports Association „Kukolj Team“, whose founder is Aleksandar Kukolj, a celebrated Serbian representative and judoka who has won over 10 gold, 10 silver and 9 bronze medals in his career so far in prestigious European and World Championships, while in the year 2017 he was ranked the world’s number one judoka.
In recognition of the previous cooperation that our Association has with the Sports Association „Kukolj Team“, this year we had an honor, as one of the sponsors of the event, to contribute to the organization of this unique sports manifestation held from June 27 to June 29 in Belgrade, at the „Šumice“ Sports Center. Guests of honour and lecturers of this Masterclass Camp were two distinguished Azerbaijani judokas and current Olympic Champions, Zelym Kotsoiev and Hidayat Heydarov, along with their coach Slavko Tekić. During this sports weekend, judo fans of all ages had the opportunity to improve their sports skills and train alongside current Olympic and World Champions through numerous training sessions and interactive activities. Judo coaches from Serbia and Region also attended this event, and they were able to exchange their experiences through a coaching panel and incorporate advices of World Champions into their future coaching activities.
As an Association that values sports and sports activities as one of the key elements in the development of young people, we are proud to say that we were part of this event that aims to motivate young people to play sports as well as to encourage them to develop an awareness of teamwork. This cooperation with the Sports Association „Kukolj Team“ represents an important moment in the development of bilateral relations between friendly countries - the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and as a sign of gratitude at the opening ceremony a certificate of appreciation was awarded to His Excellency Mr. Kamil Khasiyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Serbia. Special thanks were also given to the representatives of the Serbian-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce, the representatives of the Azvirt Company and the Promont Company, who were also awarded certificates of appreciation for their additional involvement in the organization of the event.
We can say that judo in Serbia is a sport that young people choose more and more every year, and one of the main reasons for that is our national representative and judoka Aleksandar Kukolj. As a reminder, since 2023, the Serbian-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce has been supporting the project „Judo for the Blind and Visually Impaired People“, which was initiated by two sports organizations – Sports Association „Kukolj Team“ and VIN Academy. We believe that this Judo Masterclass Camp is only the first one in a series of future sporting events and that through these events new future European, World and even Olympic Champions will be born!