French media have expressed dissatisfaction with Azerbaijan's expanded representation at the World Judo Championships currently being held in Baku.
As reported by İdman.Biz, the criticism was prompted by the participation of 17 Azerbaijani male judokas in the individual competition.
In particular, L'Équipe published an article headlined "Azerbaijan, host of the 2026 World Championships, is allowed to enter more judokas than other countries," describing the opportunity granted to the host nation as a "controversial advantage."
French specialist publication L'Esprit du Judo had previously taken an even harsher approach, headlining its article "The scandal of the 17." Its authors argued that having three Azerbaijani representatives in several weight categories gives the host nation an advantage over other teams.
However, it is important to emphasize that Azerbaijan has not violated any provision of the regulations and has not received any special exemption created specifically for the country. The possibility of granting additional wild cards to the host nation at the senior World Championships was introduced by the International Judo Federation (IJF) back in 2025.
Under Article 4.4 of the IJF Sport and Organisation Rules, the standard quota allows each national federation to enter up to nine men and nine women, with no more than two athletes in any one weight category. At the same time, World Championships organizers may propose additional local or regional athletes for wild cards.
These places do not count towards the national federation's standard quota, and every such entry must be approved by the IJF sports leadership.
IJF Head Sport Director Vladimir Barta also addressed the issue. He stressed that the system had already been used for several years at junior and cadet World Championships before being introduced at the senior World Championships in 2025.
According to Barta, additional entries are not granted automatically. They are proposed by the local organizing committee and subsequently require approval from the IJF.
Barta also clarified an important point: despite the host nation's expanded entry, only the results of nine men and nine women from the organizing country are taken into account for the IJF World Ranking.
Azerbaijan therefore simply made use of a mechanism explicitly provided for in the regulations, receiving additional places for eight men and one woman. All of these entries were approved by the IJF in accordance with the established procedure.
As noted above, this practice is not unprecedented. At the 2025 World Championships in Budapest, host nation Hungary also took advantage of the new rule. According to official IJF data, Hungary was represented by 11 men and 10 women — a total of 21 judokas, which also exceeded the standard quota.
Notably, L'Esprit du Judo, which is now sharply criticizing Azerbaijan's expanded entry, itself acknowledges that the rule introduced a year earlier went largely unnoticed at the time. Hungary's use of the additional quota did not generate comparable controversy.
Against this background, the criticism directed at Azerbaijan appears questionable at the very least. The national team did not benefit from an exception created specifically for the Baku World Championships but used an official mechanism introduced in advance by the International Judo Federation and already applied at the previous edition of the tournament.
If the principle of additional wild cards raises questions, those questions should be directed at the IJF regulations. Azerbaijan, having earned the right to host the World Championships, has simply used the opportunities available to the host nation in full compliance with the existing rules.
