The Minister for Sport, the Hon Steven Linares, who is travelling with the Gibraltar U18 National Basketball team in Azerbaijan on his own volition, took time from the tournament to make a courtesy visit to his counterpart Minister Farid Gayibov.

They discussed amongst other things the possibility of doing youth exchanges. They also spoke about having Azerbaijani teams using Gibraltar as a stopping point for their national teams when they have to compete in Western Europe.

Minister Linares said: “It was a pleasure to have been able to meet up with my counterpart in Azerbaijan, Mr Farid Gayibov. We had a great discussion on how we could cooperate in the future since we both believe we will be encountering teams from Azerbaijan more often. Lincoln FC has just travelled to Azerbaijan to play Qarabag FK. This may be the first official contact with this country but I reckon it will not be the last”.

Minister Linares was accompanied by John Gonçalves MBE, member of FIBA Europe and President of GABBA.

ENDS