The Turkmen Hockey Team Will Start at the IX Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, with a Match Against India on February 4, 2025.

The team has been placed in Group "C," where they will also play against teams from Macau and Hong Kong. This was reported by the newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan."

According to the Chairman of the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan, Jora Khudayberdiyev, the hockey tournament will begin a few days before the official opening of the Games due to the complex system for determining the winner. After the opening match against India, the Turkmen hockey players will face the Macau team on February 5, and will conclude the group stage with a game against Hong Kong on February 9.

If they perform successfully in the group, the Turkmen team will have the opportunity to compete for medals in playoff matches with teams from other divisions, including the first and top divisions.

It is worth noting that at the previous Asian Winter Games in 2017 in Sapporo, Japan, the Turkmenistan team achieved an impressive result, winning gold medals. The team secured convincing victories over Malaysia (9:2), Macau (16:0), and Indonesia (12:2), and defeated Kyrgyzstan 7:3 in the final.

To prepare for the upcoming tournament, the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan plans to attract a highly qualified foreign specialist. Negotiations are currently underway to invite one of the coaches from the Russian club "Ak Bars" with the assistance of the Organization for the Development of Hockey in Islamic Countries (ORHIS).

The matches of the jubilee, tenth Turkmenistan Ice Hockey Championship have begun at the ice arena of the Ashgabat Winter Sports Center "Galkan". Six teams are participating in the tournament, which will compete for medals in a two-round system. This was announced by the Chairman of the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan Jora Hudayberdyev, the newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan" reports.

The main favorite of the competition, the publication notes, is the team "Galkan" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan, which has won all the previous nine national championships. According to the Chairman of the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan, Jora Hudaberdyev, the current champions have every chance to retain the championship title, since most of the team's players are part of the national team.

This year, "Galkan" has already demonstrated a high level of play, winning the international tournament among club teams, which was held in April in Turkmenistan with the participation of teams from 10 countries, including clubs from Belarus and Russia.

The teams "Şir", "Oguzhan", "Nesil", "Watançy" and "Merdana" will also compete for medals in the national championship. The championship will last until the middle of next month, all matches will be held at the ice arena of the "Galkan" Winter Sports Center. The tournament was organized by the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan and the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports with the assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

From December 12 to 16, the Open Championship of Ashgabat and the Cup of Turkmenistan in Traditional Karate were held in the sports hall of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, a representative of the federation told Turkmenportal.

The event was organized through the joint efforts of the National Federation of Traditional Karate of Turkmenistan and the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of the country.

The competitions brought together the strongest athletes, demonstrating high skill in traditional karate.

Details about the winners and the results of the tournament will be published soon.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino met with the head of the Football Federation of Turkmenistan, Guvanchmuhammet Ovekov, in Doha. During the meeting, they discussed the development of football in Turkmenistan and possible support from FIFA for future federation projects.

As part of the meeting, the president of the Turkmen federation presented Infantino with a special gift – a traditional handmade Turkmen carpet featuring a portrait of the FIFA president against the backdrop of the organization's symbols and the national flag of Turkmenistan.

"It was a pleasure to meet with the president of the Football Federation of Turkmenistan, Guvanch Ovekov, in Doha and learn about the excellent work he is doing to develop football in his country. We discussed future development projects and how FIFA can continue to support President Ovekov and his team's plans to develop football in Turkmenistan," Infantino wrote on his social media.

The Turkmen delegation, led by federation president Guvanchmuhammet Ovekov, made a working visit to the capital of Qatar, where they held a number of important meetings on football development.

Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior of Real Madrid has been named the best player of 2024 by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA).

Other nominees included Real Madrid players Dani Carvajal (Spain), Federico Valverde (Uruguay), Jude Bellingham (England), Kylian Mbappé (France, formerly of PSG), as well as Erling Haaland (Norway), Rodri (Spain, both from Manchester City), Florian Wirtz (Germany, Bayer Leverkusen), and Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona). Former Real Madrid player Toni Kroos (Germany), who retired after the European Championship, was also on the list of contenders.

In October, Vinícius finished second in the voting for the Ballon d'Or, awarded by France Football. The prize went to Spanish midfielder Rodri of Manchester City.

In the 2023/24 season, Vinícius became the Spanish champion with Real Madrid. The Spanish club also won the Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup. At the Copa América held in the summer, the Brazilian national team with Vinícius did not reach the semifinals, losing in the quarterfinals to Uruguay (0:0, 2:4 on penalties).

The award was established in 2016. Vinícius won this prize for the first time. Previous FIFA Best Player winners include Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, 2016, 2017), Luka Modrić (Croatia, 2018), Robert Lewandowski (Poland, 2020, 2021), and Lionel Messi (Argentina, 2019, 2022, 2023).

In other categories, Aitana Bonmatí from Barcelona was named the best player in women's football, and Carlo Ancelotti was named the best coach. The award for the most beautiful goal went to Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United, and the best goalkeepers were Emiliano Martínez and Alyssa Naeher.

Midfielder of the Italian "Atalanta" and the Nigerian national team Ademola Lookman was recognized as the best African footballer in 2024 at the CAF Awards ceremony, which took place on December 16 in Morocco.
Lookman, 27, helped "Atalanta" win the Europa League with a hat-trick in the final against "Bayer" Leverkusen.

His competitors for the title of best footballer were Simon Adingra (Brighton, Cote d'Ivoire), Serou Guirassi (Borussia Dortmund, Guinea), Achraf Hakimi (PSG, Morocco) and Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns) , South Africa).

The coach of the year award was Emers Fahe, head coach of the Ivory Coast team that won the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

The “Golden Arrow of Diplomacy” archery tournament, dedicated to the 29th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality, ended in Ashgabat. About 40 representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan took part in the friendly competition.

The tournament was organized by the National Archery Federation of Turkmenistan and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea. The competition took place in a friendly atmosphere and demonstrated the high level of sportsmanship of diplomats.

In the men's category, the second secretary of the Russian Embassy, Vadim Yakovlev, won. Patrick Ryanke (USA) took second place, and Anton Goncharok (WHO, Turkmenistan) took third place. Among the women, Katerina Ford from the US Embassy took the lead. Silver went to Minkung Chai from Korea, bronze went to Mihaiko Sasaki from Japan.

The organizers thanked the sponsors of the event: the companies "Aktam", "Resmi Kepil", "Archalyk", "Ugur" and the Korean restaurant "Wok Food".

The tournament not only revealed the best archers among diplomats, but also emphasized the role of sport as an effective tool of international diplomacy and strengthening friendly relations between countries.

A seminar on improving the qualifications of football coaches and referees was held in the assembly hall of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of the Dashoguz velayat.

The event, organized by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan and the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of the Dashoguz velayat, was attended by more than 50 coaches and referees from all etraps of the northern region of the country.

The training seminar was held under the guidance of the instructor of the Football Federation of Turkmenistan, international category referee, honored coach of the country Allabergen Sapaev and international category referee Bakhtiyar Atajanov, who familiarized football referees and coaches of children's sports schools with the latest rules of the game of football and modern methods of the training process.

Chairman of the Football Federation of Turkmenistan Guvanchmuhammed Ovekov and FFT General Secretary Serdar Geldiyev held a video conference with representatives of the academy of the football club “Villarreal”, which plays in the top league of the Spanish championship.

During the meeting, issues of experience exchange and cooperation opportunities in the development of children's and youth football were discussed. Special attention was paid to the exchange of experience in the field of coaching education, the FFT press service reports.

The Executive Committee of the International SAMBO Federation (FIAS) has approved the competition calendar for 2025, according to which the World SAMBO Championship will be held in Ashgabat from November 7 to 9. The detailed schedule of tournaments has already been published on the FIAS website.

The tournament will include competitions in sports sambo for men and women, combat sambo for men and women, as well as sambo for the blind for men.

In addition, the World Beach Sambo Championship will be held in Singapore, and the Sambo World Cups will be hosted by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The Student World Cup will be held in Serbia. The continental championships will be distributed as follows: Asia and Oceania – Uzbekistan, Europe – Cyprus, Africa – Guinea, Pan America – Ecuador.

In August 2025, as part of the World Games in Chengdu, combat sambo competitions will be held, for which the selection took place throughout 2024.

On December 13, the UAE Super Cup final took place at Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai between the teams Al-Wasl and Shabab Al-Ahli. The match ended 2-2 in regular time and went to a penalty shootout.

The Iranian footballer of Turkmen origin, Serdar Azmoun, who started the match, did not score in regular time. However, in the penalty shootout, he was the first to successfully convert his shot. The final score of the penalty shootout was 4-1 in favor of Shabab Al-Ahli.

For the 29-year-old forward, this trophy is his first with the Dubai club. Currently, Shabab Al-Ahli is in second place in the UAE Premier League standings.

Azmoun's personal statistics for the season are 6 goals and 1 assist.

At the World Weightlifting Championships held in Manama (Bahrain), Davranbek Hasanbayev brought Turkmenistan a small bronze medal in the snatch in the 102 kg weight category, lifting 182 kg. However, in the second exercise – the clean and jerk – Hasanbayev was unable to realize any of his three attempts and finished the competition with a zero score.

In this weight category, 24 weightlifters from 21 countries competed for awards. Marcos Ruiz from Spain won the bronze medal in the combined event with a result of 395 kg (183 + 212). Silver went to Ibrahim Elbah from Qatar – 399 kg (174 + 225), and gold to Artem Antropov from Kazakhstan – 400 kg (170 + 230).

The Turkmenistan team at the 2024 World Championships is represented by 8 athletes. Earlier, Bunyad Rashidov won a silver medal in the snatch in the 73 kg weight category.