Baku 2020 appoints Bid CEO

Baku, 9 November 2011 – Baku has appointed a CEO to head its bid to host the Olympics in the capital of Azerbaijan in 2020.

Konul Nurullayeva was previously head of the International Relations department of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan. She also heads the International Relations department of the Azerbaijan Athletic Federation and is General Secretary of both the national ‘Bobsleigh and Skeleton’ and ‘Alpine Skiing’ Federations.

Ms Nurullayeva was the first-ever woman Chef de Mission of the Azerbaijani delegation at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

She is a member of the Coordination Group of the International Inspiration Programme, which is now an official component of the LOCOG International Education Programme, led by UK Sport with the British Council and UNICEF. In addition, she is on the Sport Development Committee of the Islamic Woman and Sport Federation, the Executive Committee of Azerbaijan Athletic Federation and the Azerbaijani delegation for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

Ms Nurullayeva was also a member of the Azerbaijan Organising Committee for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and for the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games.

Ms Nurullayeva is multi-lingual, speaking Azeri, English, Russian, Turkish and French, and has a Masters in International Relations from the Azerbaijan University of Languages.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Nurullayeva said: "I am incredibly proud and excited to be appointed CEO of my country’s Bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Baku in 2020. We want to bring the joys and passions of the world’s greatest sporting event to the Caucasus for the first time, so enabling this vibrant, open and enthusiastic region to realise its true sporting potential."

She continued: "We view hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Baku as an opportunity to showcase all the finest aspects of our country, our culture and indeed our entire region. It is part of our vision to turn Baku into the ‘city of the future’ – a gift to the next generation and a source of pride for our country."

Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan’s Minister for Youth and Sport, said: "We are delighted to appoint Konul as CEO of our Bid. She is young, dynamic, deeply involved in our national sports and, above all, a great example and inspiration to the young people of Azerbaijan, many of whom we hope will be competing in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"We believe that hosting the 2020 Games in Baku would extend the Olympic ideals to millions of new hearts and minds. With Konul leading the way, we believe that this bid will engage and inspire the young people of the region, so that they better understand the world around them – and young people around the world gain a true picture of Azerbaijan’s culture and warm hospitality."

The Baku 2020 Bid Committee also took a significant step forward last week when it appointed three leading international agencies to support its team, pmplegacy, Burson-Marsteller and Adore Creative.

For more information, contact: dennis.landsbertnoon@bm.com

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatimtexts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-relatedorganizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.

Your complete source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.