Recently, Iran’s national judo team has been headed by well-known Azerbaijani specialist Rashad Mammadov, who, together with his brother Farhad Mammadov, is considered one of the country’s top judo coaches.
In an interview with Idman.Biz, Rashad Mammadov spoke about how he came to Iran and his desire to win medals with Iranian judokas at the World Championships in Baku.
- You and your brother began your coaching careers almost at the same time. Was this due to rivalry between you?
- No, what rivalry… I started practicing judo at the age of seven, when kids from my neighborhood in Amirjan invited me to a judo section that had just opened there. Five years later, I brought Farhad to the same section. We left judo almost at the same time in 1999: I went to coach at "Neftchi", and he joined "Attila", where our coach Ali Dervishov invited him. Now my brother is already the director of that club. So there was never any rivalry between us.
- What about your trainees? Did you try to lure children away from each other, as coaches often do in many sports, including judo?
- No, of course not. We are brothers - what kind of poaching could there be between us? Moreover, we worked in different clubs located in different parts of the city: "Attila" in the center, "Neftchi" in the Surakhani settlement. On the contrary, when someone wanted to send a child to a club in the city center, I directed them to Farhad. He has many star students.
- For example?
- European Championships full medalist Orkhan Safarov, Olympic silver medalists Rustam Orujov and Elmar Gasimov - all of them are his students.
- Do you have similar sources of pride?
- Most of mine are from the youth level. For example, youth European Championship medalists Rasim Asadullayev, Telman Veliyev, Abdulhag Rasulloo, as well as judokas Leyla Aliyeva and Aydan Veliyeva, whom I coached as a personal trainer from the age of six.
- Judging by the names of the athletes, does that mean your brother is the stronger coach?
- Well, my brother is stronger, not someone else (laughs). Let my brother be stronger than me - I am proud of that. I mainly worked as a national team coach. From 2007 to 2017, I was head coach of Azerbaijan’s cadet and later junior national teams, and from 2019 to 2024 I was head coach of the women’s national team, which we can say we built from scratch.
- What about Irina Kindzerska?
- At that time, she was the only one on the team. Later, I brought in Leyla Aliyeva, Gultaj Mammadaliyeva, and developed Aydan Veliyeva. I am very happy that these girls later started winning medals at senior tournaments and showed that the team is not made up of just one Kindzerska.
- You can probably answer without hesitation: who is harder to work with, men or women?
- Without hesitation, women, of course (laughs). They have a different mentality, different psychology, a different body - everything is different. With men, you come in, give instructions, and they follow them. If someone slacks off, no one spares them, they are immediately removed from the squad. With each female judoka, you need an individual approach. It is hard to force them to train; you need to find their "button", as in the movie "The Adventures of Elektronik". General exercises do not work here - each judoka needs her own program, and sometimes, for the sake of the final result, you even have to indulge their small, purely feminine whims.
- Which of our female judokas was it easiest for you to work with?
- Irina Kindzerska. She was very disciplined in training, did everything she was told, without any whims or antics. Very mentally strong and tough, like a tank, with a strong competitive character. In one word, "bulletproof".
- Is it just as difficult with the women’s team in Iran, or does it not exist?
- Working with women is difficult everywhere, whether in Azerbaijan or Iran (laughs). Women’s judo existed here, but there were no results. Last year, for the first time in history, an Iranian female judoka won a medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games: Maryam Barber took bronze in the under-70 kg category. In addition, an Iranian judoka became a champion at the Asian Youth Games. So despite the fact that I have been head coach of Iran’s national judo teams of all age categories for only half a year, there is already a reason for pride.
- Until when is your contract valid?
- The contract is valid until the 2028 Olympic Games, with the option of revision at the end of 2026 under more favorable conditions for me.
- You left the Azerbaijan national team at the end of 2024 and signed with another country’s team just six months later. Do you think you rushed your decision?
- On the contrary, I think I was even a bit late. When the federation leadership did not extend my contract at the beginning of 2025, I waited, hoping they might offer me another position. But offers from abroad came immediately once it became known that I had become, as they say in football, a free agent. I received invitations from North Macedonia, China, and Iran. I chose the latter when I finally realized that I was no longer in demand in Azerbaijan.
- Why Iran? Were the conditions better?
- Because it is closer to Baku (laughs). No, the conditions offered by Iran were not better. Iran is a country with traditions and also our neighbor. From here it is easier for me to fly to my native Baku, which I miss very much. You can bring your relatives to Tehran, but not the city itself.
- Does your family stay with you?
- Not all the time. But they come from time to time - sometimes my wife, sometimes my sons with my grandchildren. Only my daughter has not visited yet.
- Why? Because of restrictions on women in Iran?
- In fact, all the news about the lifestyle in Iran turned out to be myths. Both men and women dress almost the same as in Europe and in Baku. There is absolutely no forced wearing of hijabs or niqabs, at least in Tehran, where I live and work. People here are very kind and friendly. From the first days, I have been supported not only by the president of the judo federation Arash Miresmaeili, but also by Iran’s sports minister. They constantly ask how I am doing and whether I need anything. Such an attitude from people whom I did not even know six months ago cannot help but be pleasing.
- Why do you think they invited you, a representative of the Azerbaijani judo school, rather than a European or Asian coach?
- I think my professional background played a major role. I worked as head coach of both men’s and women’s national teams of different age groups. The federation leadership was interested in every detail of my coaching career, and it was immediately clear that these are serious people who know what they want.
- Do they interfere in your work? Do they hint at whom to include in the team or whom to exclude?
- No, absolutely not. The federation president has never tried to interfere in my work, let alone give recommendations. I selected the athletes based on the results of the Iranian Championship, which I closely observed. I even included several judokas who did not become champions and did not even finish in the medals, and no one raised any complaints. They, like me, need the final result - this is a truly professional approach.
The only problem is that it is difficult for Iranian athletes to obtain visas to some European countries. But that is more politics than sport.
- Could politics affect the participation of Iranian athletes in the Los Angeles Olympic Games?
- No, that is excluded. Iran has already received firm guarantees of participation in these Olympics.
- What about participation in this year’s World Championships in Baku? Will the Iranian team compete?
- Of course. We will compete in four of the seven men’s weight categories. By the way, Iran will take part in the World Championships for the first time since 2018, when the tournament was also held in Baku. Saeid Mollaei, who was then representing Iran, became world champion. I am not sure we can repeat that result, but I hope my homeland will not leave us without medals (laughs).
- Why not invite your brother to join you and try working together for the first time, especially at the World Championships in Baku?
- He has no problems with work as it is. As I said, Farhad is the director of the "Attila" judo club, and he is unlikely to leave his club and move to Iran or anywhere else.
Vugar Vugarly
