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Football players of the Turkmenistan national team will play a friendly match with the Greenland team on June 1 in Antalya (UAE).
The upcoming game Is planned as part of the training camp of the national team of Turkmenistan, which is preparing for the qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup against Uzbekistan (June 6) and Hong Kong (June 11).
This will be the first match between the national teams of Turkmenistan and Greenland in history.
The head coach of the Turkmenistan national team is Mergen Orazov. His assistants are Mekan Muhammetmyradov, Velsahet Ovezov, Pavel Matus, Ildar Tashliev and Batyr Rozyev.
The training camp of the Turkmen team will last until June 4, after which the players will go to Tashkent for a match with the Uzbekistan national team. After the game in Uzbekistan, the Turkmenistan team will return to Ashgabat, where they will host Hong Kong on June 11 in the final match of the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament.
At the moment, Iran and Uzbekistan are in the lead in Group E, with 10 points each. Turkmenistan and Hong Kong occupy 3-4 places respectively, having one point each.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov sent sincere congratulations to Mr. Gitanas Nauseda on his re-election as President of the Republic of Lithuania.
Taking advantage of this pleasant opportunity, the Head of State expressed to President Gitanas Nauseda wishes for good health, happiness and new successes in responsible government activities, and peace, progress and prosperity to the people of the Republic of Lithuania.
At the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS countries on May 24, it was decided to expand cooperation in the field of sports. As a result, Ashgabat was declared the City of new sports opportunities of the Commonwealth. The Heads of Government instructed the Council for Physical Culture and Sports to develop a draft Action Plan for 2024-2025 aimed at implementing this initiative.
This decision confirms the increased interest of the Commonwealth partners in the sports potential of Turkmenistan in recent years. Our country is an initiator and organizer of major sporting events on a regular basis. In 2017, the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games were held in Ashgabat with great success. In 2018, at the initiative of Turkmenistan, the UN General Assembly established World Bicycle Day, which is celebrated annually on June 3.
The announcement of Ashgabat as a City of new sports opportunities in the CIS is a confirmation of Turkmenistan's efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle and develop sports culture. The action plan for 2024-2025, which will be developed by the Council for Physical Culture and Sports, is aimed at further strengthening and expanding these achievements.
This initiative opens up new prospects for sports cooperation between the CIS countries and contributes to enhancing the international prestige of Ashgabat as a center of sports innovation and opportunities.
The draw for the tenth Futsal World Championship was held in Samarkand, which will be held from September 14 to October 6, 2024 in three cities of Uzbekistan - Tashkent, Andijan and Bukhara.
Based on the results of the draw, the teams of the Central Asian republics determined their opponents in the group stage. The hosts of the tournament, the national team of Uzbekistan, will play with teams from the Netherlands,
Paraguay and Costa Rica. Tajikistan will face Portugal, Morocco and Panama. Kazakhstan was in a group with the teams of Spain, New Zealand and Libya.
Based on the results of the group stage, the 16 teams that finished first and second, as well as the top four teams that finished third, will advance to the playoffs and continue to compete for the championship title.
Results of the 2024 Futsal World Cup draw:
Group “A” (Tashkent)
• Uzbekistan
• Netherlands
• Paraguay
• Costa Rica
Group “B” (Bukhara)
• Brazil
• Cuba
• Croatia
• Thailand
Group “C” (Tashkent)
• Argentina
• Ukraine
• Afghanistan
• Angola
Group “D” (Andijan)
• Spain
• Kazakhstan
• New Zealand
• Libya
Group “E” (Tashkent)
• Portugal
• Panama
• Tajikistan
• Morocco
Group “F” (Bukhara)
• Iran
• Venezuela
• Guatemala
• France
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has published an updated club rating based on the results of the completed 2023/2024 season. In this ranking, out of 47 AFC member countries, Turkmenistan is in 19th place, gaining 20,2 points.
Among the countries of Central Asia, Turkmenistan was ahead of Kyrgyzstan (27th place, 15,5 points), but was behind Tajikistan (18th place, 22,5 points) and Uzbekistan (9th place, 47,3 points). The leaders in the ranking were
Saudi Arabia (103,1 points), Japan (97 points) and the Republic of Korea (93,6 points).
Starting from the 2024/2025 season, AFC club competitions will be divided into three levels: Elite Champions League, Champions League 2 and Challenge League. Thanks to 19th place in the ranking, Turkmenistan received the right to field two teams in Asian competitions.
As journalist Alisher Nikimbayev reports on the Telegram channel “Futbolium”, the current champion of Turkmenistan “Arkadag”, together with teams from India, Bahrain and Kuwait, will compete for two tickets to the group stage of the Champions League 2. And the finalist of the 2023 Turkmenistan Cup “Ahal” will directly get into group stage of the Challenge League.
Defender of the Belarusian club Vitebsk and the national team of Turkmenistan Vepa Dzhumaev is forced to miss the June training camp of the Turkmen team due to injury.
As the footballer himself told the press service of the national team, during one of the matches in the Belarusian championship, he suffered damage to the front surface of his thigh. Dzhumaev hoped to recover in time for the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan, but the injury turned out to be more serious, and it was not possible to fully recover in time.
Representatives of the Turkmenistan national team wished Dzhumaev a speedy recovery on social networks.
Thus, the defender will miss not only the game with Uzbekistan, but also the meeting with Hong Kong in the 2026 World Cup qualifying round.
Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates won the AFC Champions League final, beating the Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos with a total score of 6:3 on aggregate.
In the return final match, held in the UAE, Al Ain defeated the opponent with a score of 5:1. Doubles as part of the winners were scored by Sofyan Rahimi (8th and 67th minutes) and Kojo Laba (90 +1 and 90+5), another goal was scored by Alejandro Romero (33). Jan Mateus scored for Yokohama F. Marinos (40th minute). It is worth noting that from the 45th minute the Japanese club played in the minority due to the removal of William Popp.
For Al Ain, which is managed by former Argentine national team player Hernan Crespo, this is the second victory in the AFC Champions League and the first since 2003. Having won the main Asian club trophy, the team from the UAE has guaranteed itself a ticket to the 2025 Club World Cup.
The Turkmen club "Akhal", representing the Main Directorate of "Turkmennebitonumleri", also participated in the current draw of the tournament. The team won the AFC Champions League for the second time in its history, beating Saudi Al-Fahey with a score of 1-0, and also drew 1-1 with the multiple champion of Uzbekistan Pakhtakor. At the end of the group stage, Ahal took 4th place in Group A with 4 points, passing ahead of Al Ain (15 points), Al Fahoo (9) and Pakhtakor (7).
Uzbekistan national team midfielder Abbosbek Fayzullaev, who plays for CSKA Moscow, won the award in the "Opening of the Season" nomination following the results of the Russian Premier League (RPL) championship.
20-year-old Fayzullaev had an excellent debut season for the Army. In 22 matches, he scored 4 goals and made 7 assists.
– Thanks to everyone who voted for me, it is very nice to receive such an award. I want to thank my teammates, coaches, the CSKA leadership, as well as the Army fans for their support. Special thanks to my parents and close friends," Fayzullayev said.
It is worth noting that the Uzbek national team, for which Fayzullayev stands, is Turkmenistan's opponent in the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup. In the first round, the Uzbeks beat the Turkmen team 3-1 in Ashgabat. The return match is scheduled for June 6.
A number of sports events are organized in Turkmenistan on the occasion of the World Bicycle Day celebrated on June 3, the Turkmenistan newspaper writes: The Golden Age."
As Deputy Prime Minister N.Amannepesov said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, from May 27 to June 3, the Turkmen Track cycling Championship will be held in the Olympic town of Ashgabat. In the period from May 31 to June 3, a 335 km bicycle marathon with the participation of the national team of the country along a special route on the section of the Mary-Tejen-Ashgabat high-speed highway is also scheduled. And on June 3, it is planned to organize a mass bike ride in the capital.
Summarizing the report, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov instructed to properly prepare for the wide and solemn celebration of World Bicycle Day, as well as to hold physical culture and sports events on the occasion of this holiday at the appropriate level in the capital and velayats.
Turkmen Galkan won the international ice hockey tournament, which was held in Ashgabat with the participation of ten teams from Asia and Europe. The hockey club of the same name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan achieved this success by defeating the Russian team "ADIHIC-Kazan" from the Republic of Tatarstan in the final match today – 4:2 (1:1, 0:1, 3:0).
Both teams passed the group stage of the tournament without defeats, having won the right to challenge the main trophy of the competition in the decisive match.
The final became a real decoration of the tournament with all the unforeseen collisions in sports.
Both teams started the game at high speeds, creating many dangerous moments at each other's gates. But for a long time it was not possible to open an account because of the excellent play of goalkeepers Rahman Myradov (Galkan) and Airat Valliulin (ADIHIC-Kazan). And yet, at the 9th minute, the spectators, who filled the stands of the 10,000-seat arena to capacity, saw the first puck in the goal. It was thrown by one of our best strikers, Perkhat Atekaev, who turned out to be the most efficient on the heel.
The guests from the world–renowned hockey school in Kazan put a lot of effort into recouping, and 53 seconds before the end of the first period, Adel Avzalov restored the balance - 1:1.
In the second 20 minutes, the Russians took the lead after Nasser Subhi's goal, and on the second break, the opponents left with the score 2:1 in favor of the ADIHIC-Kazan team.
The eight-time champion of Turkmenistan had the last 20 minutes left to turn the tide of the game. And the wards of Andrei Makarov and Meilis Kuliyev coped with this perfectly in the final period. In the 41st minute, Perhat Atekaev ran away from the defenders, went one-on–one with the goalkeeper and leveled the position – 2:2. Two minutes later, Gurbanmyrat Tanniev, falling on his heel, sent the puck into an unprotected corner of the goal and brought Galkan forward - 3:2. And put the winning point on the 51st a minute later, Novruz Baykhanov made a wonderful throw into the "nine".
In the last minutes of the game, in order to get away from defeat, the coaches of the ADIHIC-Kazan team changed the goalkeeper to the sixth fielder. But the Turkmen hockey players withstood the onslaught of the opponent and kept the winning score 4:2.
At the closing ceremony of the competition, the Galkan hockey players were awarded a Cup and gold medals, and the ADIHIC-Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan, Russia) and Volat (Belarus) teams silver and bronze, respectively.
The judges who served the tournament and the best players were also awarded special prizes. They were recognized as: goalkeeper Yaroslav Lagun (Volat), defender Musa Annasaparov (Galkan) and striker Aidar Miftakhov (ADIHIC-Kazan).
The International Ice Hockey tournament was held from April 15 to 20 at two ice arenas of the Winter Sports Complex with the participation of club teams from Bahrain, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
Dear President of Turkmenistan,
We cordially congratulate you on the successful holding of the international ice hockey tournament in Ashgabat from April 15 to 20, 2024!
We wish you further success in implementing initiatives aimed at strengthening friendly and fraternal relations between peoples and developing international sports cooperation!
Dear President of Turkmenistan,
Turkmenistan has consistently created wide opportunities and all conditions for holding international sports events, and modern specialized facilities are being built that meet international standards. A vivid proof of this is the successful holding of a number of prestigious competitions in the Olympic town of Ashgabat in cooperation with international sports organizations, including the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the World Championships in weightlifting and kurash, regional sports tournaments, as well as the International Rally "Amul – Khazar 2018".
We are convinced that the organization of an international ice hockey tournament at a high level in a modern winter Sports complex will increase the authority of Turkmenistan on the world stage as a sports power, as well as make a great contribution to the development of hockey.
In this regard, given that Turkmenistan has become the center of major sports competitions, we firmly believe that it is appropriate to declare white marble Ashgabat the international sports capital within the framework of such a prestigious organization as the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Dear President of Turkmenistan,
We express our sincere gratitude for the hospitality and warm welcome provided to us, for organizing high-level competitions held in the spirit of friendship and brotherhood in sunny Turkmenistan thanks to your support. We will never forget your wonderful country and kind-hearted people, who made an indelible impression on us.
Dear President of Turkmenistan,
Thanks to your efforts and support, large-scale work to improve the sports system of your independent, permanently neutral country, strengthen public health, develop the Olympic movement and international sports cooperation, create a modern system of logistics for sports, accumulated best practices in organizing major competitions at a high level, we would like to proudly note, that the holding of the current tournament has become another vivid evidence of the unanimous recognition by the world community of the sports policy implemented in Turkmenistan.
Dear President of Turkmenistan,
We express our great gratitude to you for your assistance in participating in the international ice hockey tournament, creating all conditions for its holding and the hospitality provided.
We wish you good health, longevity, and success in your large-scale activities to strengthen international cooperation!
With deep respect,
participants of the international ice hockey tournament:
the captain of the team of the Galkan hockey club of Turkmenistan A.Gurbanov;
Captain of the team of the Bahrain Ice Hockey Club of the Kingdom of Bahrain S.T.H.Hegazi;
team captain of the Volat hockey club of the Republic of Belarus P.Karakulko;
Captain of the Ice box Iran Mall hockey club team of the Islamic Republic of Iran S.F.Gorab;
captain of the hockey club "Hockey Club Aqmola" team of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Mambetaliev;
captain of the team of the Dordoi hockey club of the Kyrgyz Republic E.Mirbekov;
Captain of the Oman Nationals Hockey Club team of the Kingdom of Oman A.Al Lawati;
captain of the team of the Feniks hockey club of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.Nasirov;
captain of the team of the hockey club "ADIHIC-Kazan" of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation A.Miftakhov;
Captain of the team of the hockey club "Team – Türkiye" of the Turkish Republic F.Taigar.
At a meeting of the Government of Turkmenistan, Deputy Prime Minister Nurmukhamet Amannepesov reported on preparations for the celebration of the 79th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. On the occasion of this significant date, valuable gifts will be presented to war veterans on behalf of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
As it was emphasized, Victory Day is widely celebrated in Turkmenistan and with special pride.
According to the established tradition, paying tribute to the courage and heroism of the war participants, as well as the labor feat of mothers who worked in the rear, veterans will be presented with gifts from the President of Turkmenistan in a solemn atmosphere.
Summarizing the report, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that all conditions are being created in Turkmenistan for war and labor veterans who have demonstrated heroism and hard work. They serve as a vivid example of patriotism, dedication and courage for young people.
In this regard, the head of state instructed to present valuable gifts to war veterans and working mothers by the 79th anniversary of the Victory, as well as to hold all planned events at a high organizational level.