Islamic Solidarity Games commence in Baku

The 4^th Islamic Solidarity Games will be held in Azerbaijan’s capital. The official opening ceremony of this sports event is scheduled for 12 May. However, football and handball group matches kick off a few days earlier.

Saudi Arabia and Morocco football teams will clash in the tournament’s opening match. On the first day of the game, the spectators will particularly focus their attention on the Azerbaijan vs Cameroon match. The tournament has the same rules as those applied at the Olympic Games. The participation of three players above 23 is allowed in each team.

During the Islamic Games, athletes from 56 countries will compete for 269 medals in 20 sports, including 17 Olympic disciplines and three non-Olympic ones. The competitions will be held in 16 sporting venues, most of them having been built for the first European Games held in Baku in 2015.

The Azerbaijani Tourism Promotion Bureau is expected to organize the participant countries’ culture days as part of the sports event.

• The Islamic Solidarity Games, which occur once every 4 years, have been held since 2005. The first Games were held in Saudi Arabia in 2005.
• The next event, which was originally scheduled to take place in October 2009 in Iran, and later rescheduled for April 2010, was canceled after a dispute arose between Iran and the Arab World.
• The latest edition took place in 2013 in Indonesia, while the 5^th Islamic Games are scheduled for 2021 in Turkey.