Azerbaijani judoka Zulfiya Huseynova became the European champion for the 7th time among veterans in May of this year, at the age of 54.

Offsideplus.az reports that the experienced judoka gave an extensive interview to the prosport.az website. We bring to your attention interesting excerpts from the interview.

– On November 3 of this year, the world championship will be held in the French capital, Paris. Will you participate?

– Hopefully, if there is money, if I find a sponsor, I will participate. Because I paid for this European championship myself. Only Farhad Rajabli participated in the competition at the expense of the federation's finances. In the overall standings, we took 5th place as Azerbaijan. This is a very good result.

– You will turn 55 on October 15. Doesn't wrestling become more difficult every year?

– Of course. Age and my traumas speak for themselves. I don't look down on my age like others. I am 54 years old. I am not 15-20 years old. However, with the training I have undergone at this age, I give 20-year-olds an advantage. But when a person speaks, he should speak the truth. You can't wrestle now like you did when you were 20. This is natural.

– I want to ask questions outside of sports. I also know you as a major of the State Customs Committee (SCC)...

– No. I have been retired since November 29 of last year. I have no connection with the SCC. I have worked there for quite a while.

– The Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation is headed by the Chairman of the SCC, Shahin Bagirov. Have you ever been offered a job in this federation?

– Personally, when I worked at the SCC, they never put "insulating tape" on a finger. So I don't know. Maybe they are helping someone in some way. But when I personally went to Las Vegas, my doctor Nigar Khanum helped me. No matter what, I am a person who calls white white and black black. Thank God, I have nothing to fear or be afraid of. I say what I have... I swear to God, I am so glad to be leaving there. My mind is very at ease. I have found some peace in leaving. If I had known, I would have left there sooner (laughs).

– You also participated in parajudo for a while. But it seems that you yourself felt that it was strange for you...

– No. It is not strange. Before, there was a B3 category (judo players with partial vision impairment). I was automatically placed in B3. I was between B3 and B2. But thank God, they did not prepare some of my documents. Those documents were also needed to enter the competitions. It took some time to collect those documents. That is why I could not enter the competitions and I stopped participating in parajudo... I always wear my glasses. I am ready to go to the doctor and get checked whenever they want. My greatest success there was taking 3rd place in the World Team Championship.

– I have long noticed that during award ceremonies, you do not look straight at the camera lens, but more to the left or right, down or up. Is this related to your religious views?

– Yes. It is not a secret from God that I hid it from my servant. I do not like to be photographed. I only look at the camera when I am photographed for documentation. I do not want anyone to look at me. I look this way and that way. If I live in a Muslim country, if I am a Muslim, I say what is wrong. Why should I lie and say that it is not because of that? Yes. It is because of my religious beliefs.

– But in Europe, they do not know Islam deeply. When taking pictures, photographers say, look straight ahead?

– Their own problems. If you even watch the video, you will see that when shaking hands during the medal ceremony, I step back and put my hand to my chest. I do not shake hands with anyone. You can write. Some ministers also don't like why I don't shake hands with them, they call me names. I hide my face from here and tell those ministers that, in God's judgment, you are worth less than a mosquito's wing to me. That's why I don't shake hands with anyone. Regardless of who they are. This is God's judgment that I have ordered. They can investigate for themselves that the man is most guilty of meeting a woman. If they knew that I was saving them from the fire of hell, maybe they would say "thank you."

- You said that you left the State Sports Council. Will it be difficult to accept going to competitions related to financial issues?

- When I say that I have resigned, I receive my pension from the state. After a while, I want to hold a press conference, but do it live. Because no one can interrupt the live broadcast, no one can interfere. I will say my word there. Because I have served in sports, even if it is just a point. They will probably think of something about me from now on. I'm just waiting. When I hold a conference, there will be an explosion. Right now, my wife has passed away, so I'm confused. But I will definitely hold the conference. This shouldn't stay like this. Why hasn't the Ministry of Youth and Sports been interested in my whereabouts for so long?! Why should an athlete apply to them for a job? There is no bread for those who don't cry? If God has written a provision for me, no one can stop it. If the provision is not written, even if 2 worlds are 1, I can't win it.

– In December 2022, it became known that you were sentenced to 2 years by AMADA for doping. Your sentence ended on June 15, 2023. How did that matter turn out?

– A “bag was sewn” for me. But God is my witness that it was not my fault. I went to the end of this matter. Since I was confident in myself, I demanded that I take a B test. I protested. That is why they reduced my sentence to 2 years. I don’t want to remember this and stress myself again. May God punish the person who did it. I will say this until my last breath. I didn’t just miss 2 years, this incident turned my sport upside down. Any athlete in the world can be caught in doping. However, if I did something, even if they held a gun to my head, I would say that I did something strange. I have no way of denying what I did. I have been in trouble all my life for such things. Because 1-2% of people in this world will accept the truth or not. Maybe God did it so that my sins would be attributed to them.

– Who do you think did this?

– This happened during the previous AMADA leadership. But I can't take anyone's rights. I can't name anyone because I didn't hold them. But whoever did this to me, I blame it on God. God has never turned down any of my prayers. May I receive what I deserve in the next world. I don't allow anyone to do even the sweat I shed in sports. I gave my youth and health to this sport. Let them restore my health and I retire from sports. That's why I won't allow it even if I have the light of my eye. The girls who train with me see how much I suffer. My joints are all broken and numb. But this is my hobby, something I love very much. If someone enjoys something, I enjoy wrestling too.