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Reporting about powerful people can be a dangerous line of work. In Azerbaijan, it may cost you your freedom. Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova is currently in jail for exposing corrupt practices in the Azerbaijani elite, Play the Game initiative writes on its website.

Although in prison, the Azerbaijani journalist keeps fighting to tell her story through a cooperation with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The articles are published through a website set up by the OCCRP, campaigning for the release of Ismayilova. Many of the articles which appear on the website use Ismayilova’s byline but are in fact written by Azerbaijani journalists afraid to use their own names because of the Azerbaijani government’s strong stance on journalism critical of the government.

Committee to Protect Journalists highlights that Ismayilova is one of eight journalists in prison during the European Games. Using the attention focused on Azerbaijan in the run up to the Games, CPJ joined the Sports for Rights coalition to highlight human rights abuses and corruption to Baku 2015 sponsors, Olympic committees, and international institutions. Azerbaijan responded to these efforts by blocking international journalists from covering the event.

According to the article, on April 30, CPJ and Human Rights Watch met with the European Olympic Committees (EOC) leadership in Dublin to raise concerns about censorship and human rights issues. The meeting elicited a statement from the EOC that read: "It is not the EOC's place to challenge or pass judgment on the legal or political processes of a sovereign nation and, like all sports organizations, we must operate within existing political contexts."

"Unless the EOC takes off its rose-tinted glasses, the Games, and, more broadly, the legacy of the Olympic movement, will suffer. Unless it stops praising [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev even as he tramples on people's rights, it will miss a chance to make a positive impact," HRW Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova wrote in her piece, "Baku Games: the politics of sport."

According to the website of the newspaper Rossiyskiy Dialog (Russian Dialogue), during the boxing winners’ awards ceremony Ilham Aliyev stopped the spectators with a gesture as they were trying to start to boo at the Ukrainian sportsman of Armenian origin Gevorg Manukyan. When Manukyan’s name was announced, a disapproving buzz went around the stadium. However, the Azerbaijani leader’s gesture shifted the spectator’s negative attitude into approval of Manukyan.

Citing the Austrian newspaper Die Presse, Inopressa.ru writes that the first European Games in Baku ended with a great pump. Six thousand athletes from 50 countries competed for 253 medals. “Now that all the medals have been won, the issues of the sporting and political significance of the Games in Azerbaijan remain,” Josef Ebner, the sports columnist for Die Presse, writes.

“So, the absence of the top athletes in the Games only confirmed the doubts that the European Games can really have a big future,” the author writes pointing out the “third-rate” athletics and swimming teams taking part in the Games.

According to the article, Ebner also highlights the small number of the fans. “While there were 22 thousand people in the 68 thousand seated Baku Olympic Stadium in the first days of the Games, in the final days there were only 10 thousand spectators. And this was due to the new non-Olympic sports like basketball 3x3 and beach football,” Ebner points.

He reminds that Azerbaijan has already twice failed the bid for the summer Olympics and is currently being considered for the role of the host country for the Olympics 2024 along with Hamburg, Paris, Boston and Rome.

According to the article, the fact that Azerbaijan was able to win so many medals was conditioned by the choice of 20 sporting disciplines. “The sports which are more popular in the Caucasus were disproportionately introduced in the European Games. Meanwhile, the host country Azerbaijan and Russia gave a great importance to the games and accordingly compiled and trained their teams,” the author notes. Moreover, just before the closure of the games, a use of doping in the Azerbaijan team became known – the 3000m steeplechase running event winner Chaltu Beji was discovered to use it. The second and the last reported case of doping use in the European Games was that of the Albanian boxer Rexhildo Zeneli.

According to the Belarusian sport website sportpanorama.by, the first European Games did not remain without shortcomings. Paradoxically, there was no mixed zone - which is historically known for being the place of contact between the journalists and the athletes and coaches - in Baku. Precisely speaking, there was one after all, but it was very small. Only the TV crew could work there, and not even all the companies but only those which had bought the right to broadcast. A so-called “I-zone” was offered to the rest of the journalists. It worked as follows: you tell the staff of that zone whom you want to interview. They listen to you attentively, write down your accreditation number and run to the backstage to come back either with the person you are interested in or to lift up their hands in dismay. There were many scandals on the topic especially on the first days.

According the article, the responsiveness of the Games’ coverage was also reducing, as all the conversations clearly took after the competitions were over. Secondly, those who lost were practically crossed out of the communication. In the classical and best form of work, they could be accessed for a couple of words of sympathy. It was impossible in Baku.

“The losers themselves responded badly to the invitations that came from someone unknown, which is a shortcoming because of the lack of the direct contact. Hence, the journalists practically ceased to invite them, which is very bad for sport is not only about the winner and medalists’ opinions, but also about the opponents they defeated. What does it mean, “I-zone”? To come up with a claim, it would be better to call it “We-zone” as there are two sides and the factor of joining! In all, wishing to stand out and to somehow distinguish themselves with ‘novelties’ the EOC invented a bicycle that rides very badly,” Ruslan Vasilyev, the author of the article, writes.

The news website Caucasian Knot writes that during a special conference on June 29, Chief Executive Officer of the European Games and Azerbaijan's Minister of Youth and Sport Azad Rahimov said the incomes from the work of the Games Operations Committees’ was about 15-17 million manats ($14.3-16.2 million), according to preliminary estimates. He said the sum included the incomes from the sale of the tickets and broadcasting rights, as well as sponsor support.

However, according to the article, the executive secretary of the movement Republican Alternative (REAL), Natig Jafarli, said the data about the incomes the Sports Minister voiced testify about the little interest of the world in the European Games. “The incomes from such a large sporting event are tiny. To compare, I will say that two London Olympic 2012 sponsors alone, the South Korean companies KIA and Hyundai, paid the organizers $150 million to obtain sponsorship rights. Another $400 million came from tourism,” Jafarli points.

He added that he had not seen many tourists in Baku. Azerbaijan conducts an inefficient tourism policy, according to the expert. “We have top class and very expensive hotels built. A nowadays tourist prefers to see as much as possible in a short time. That is why they stay in the hotels only at nights and do not show much interest in the class of the hotel. There are few hotels in the lower price segment in Baku and only two hostels. Besides, lowcosters practically do not fly to Baku – they are not allowed. These factors combine to make tourism expensive in Azerbaijan,” Jafarli said.

According to the article, the visa requirements of the country also have a negative impact on the development of the tourism industry. “Our neighbors, Turkey and Georgia, abolished visas with 100 countries. Well, the visa requirements were simplified for the period of the European Games, yet it should not be a short-term measure as the tourists’ flow usually starts after major events. Still, they are not hurrying to make visa relaxations,” Jafarli pointed.

On 12-28 June, Baku hosted the first European Games under the auspices of the European Olympic Committee. According to media estimates, the Games cost the Azerbaijani population $10 billion. They became a serious headache for the locals with numerous bans and property demolitions. The preparatory works for the Games were accompanied not only by numerous reports about “bugs” and accidents, but also crackdowns and brutal repressions against dissent.

Related:
Media reports: International press coverage of European Games focuses primarily on human-rights violations in Azerbaijan
Games in Baku: Azerbaijani athlete fails doping test and British team complains of judges