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.

Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev sent a congratulatory message to the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the proclamation of national neutrality, emphasizing the strategic importance of this event for the development of interstate relations in Central Asia.

In his message, Mirziyoyev highlighted that the UN's recognition of Turkmenistan's neutral status fosters friendship and multifaceted cooperation with countries worldwide. The President of Uzbekistan expressed full support for Turkmenistan's foreign policy and underscored the importance of deepening strategic partnership between the two nations.

Mirziyoyev also praised the achievements in bilateral cooperation over the past year and expressed confidence in the further strengthening of interstate ties. He wished President Serdar Berdimuhamedov success in his state activities and peace and prosperity to the people of Turkmenistan.

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov participated in a solemn ceremony of laying flowers at the Monument of Neutrality, symbolizing the country's commitment to the ideals of peace and creation, reports TDH.

The ceremony was attended by senior state officials, the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Mejlis, Halk Maslahaty, and public organizations. President Serdar Berdimuhamedov laid a wreath at the foot of the monument, erected as a symbol of peace, goodness, and the humane principles of the Turkmen people.

The legal status of Turkmenistan's permanent neutrality, recognized twice by the UN, is a strategic foundation of the state's foreign policy. In his address, the head of state noted that neutrality fully corresponds to national interests and the goals of the United Nations, opening up broad opportunities for the implementation of international initiatives in the field of peace and sustainable development.

The first semi-final matches of the Turkmenistan Football Cup will take place on December 12 and 13, FFT reports.

On Thursday, December 12, “Nebitchi” will host “Arkadag” in Balkanabat. The match will start at 14:00 local time. A day later, on December 13, “Ahal” will meet “Altyn Asyr” in Ashgabat, the game will start at 15:00 at the “Nisa” stadium.

It is worth noting that the return games are expected to take place in a week, on December 20 in Ashgabat.

Let us remind that the current holder of the Turkmenistan Cup is “Arkadag”.

Turkmenistan Cup. Semi-final. First matches:

• December 12, 14:00, “Nebitchi” – “Arkadag”
• December 13, 15:00, “Ahal” – “Altyn Asyr”

“Arkadag” footballers beat “Altyn Asyr” 4-0 away in a rescheduled match of the 27th round of the Turkmenistan Championship. Shanazar Tirkishov (7th minute) and Begench Akmammedov (32, 36, 41) scored.

“Arkadag” finished the season in the championship of Turkmenistan with a 100% result for the second year in a row. Vladimir Bayramov's team did not lose a single match in the domestic championship. The team still has a chance for two more titles - the Turkmenistan Cup and the AFC Challenge League.

“Ahal” (67 points) took second place in the Turkmenistan Championship with one round to go. The first two teams will play in the Asian Football Confederation tournaments next season.

“Altyn Asyr” (56) came in third, “Shagadam” (40) came in fourth, “Merv” (35) came in fifth, “Ashgabat” (28) came in sixth, “Nebitchi” (27) came in seventh, and “Kopetdag” (17) came in eighth.

Turkmen chess players from Lebap velayat Maksat Avlyakuliev and Aya Bayramova won two silver medals at the Asian Rapid Chess Championship among schoolchildren in Bangkok.

Rapid is a fast-paced version of chess with a time limit for thinking, where each player is given 15 minutes for the entire game, with an increment of 10 seconds for each move.

The competition in the capital of Thailand brought together 555 participants from 31 countries, who competed for the title of the strongest in six age categories – under 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 years old.

Seeded 12th Maksat Avlyakuliev won silver in the boys under 9 years old category. He scored 6 points. The same number of points was scored by the 4th seed Amirzhan Anetov from Kazakhstan, who won the gold medal by winning the personal encounter. The bronze medal was won by another athlete from Kazakhstan – 5th seed Alikhan Nazarbek, who was half a point behind the leaders.

10-year-old Aya Bayramova, seeded 9th, won silver in the under  11 years old girls category. Scoring 6 points out of 7 possible, she was only half a point behind tournament winner Peng Jingyi from China (3rd seed). The top three was completed by the first seed Victoria Makhina from Russia with 5 points.

Our compatriots Alikhan Batyrov from the Mary velayat and Serdar Bayramov from the Lebap velayat were not lucky enough, and based on additional indicators they remained one step away from medals.

In the boys under 11 years old category, athletes from India Narendra Agarwal (seeded 10th) and from the Islamic Republic of Iran Ramtin Kakavand (seeded 1st) scored 6 points each and took 1st and 2nd places, respectively. Four participants who were aiming for the bronze medal scored 5.5 points each. Among them was Alikhan, seeded 4th. However, according to additional indicators for a greater number of victories in black, the bronze medal went to athlete from Kazakhstan Ibrahim Bakyt (seeded 11th), and Alikhan ended up in 6th place in the final standings.

In the category among boys under 17 years old, with 5.5 points each, 1st and 2nd places were shared by FIDE master from the Philippines Arca Christian (3rd seed) and FIDE master from Mongolia Ulzikhishig Khishigbat (10th seed). The five players who were aiming for the bronze medal, including Serdar Bayramov, seeded 15th, were half a point behind the leaders. But the medal went to Myanmar's FIDE Master Sai Khan Thikha (6th seed) for the greater number of wins. Serdar finished sixth.

Among our athletes, 7-year-old schoolgirl from Mary velayat Anna Charyeva also performed successfully, taking 6th place with 5 points.

In the team event in the rapid format, Turkmenistan took 7th place among 31 countries. First place went to Kazakhstan with 9 medals, including 5 gold, second place went to China. And third place went to Russia, whose athletes competed under the flag of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The top ten also included: India (4th place), the Philippines (5th place), Uzbekistan (6th place with one gold medal), Mongolia (8th place), Vietnam (9th place) and Iran (10th place).