LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) 鈥� The by the United States and Israel has forced the postponement of a global conference of Olympic and international sports officials in neighboring Azerbaijan.
The SportAccord conference was scheduled for May 24鈥�28 in Baku which is about 560 kilometers (350 miles) from Tehran.
鈥淎zerbaijan has proven itself to be a safe and reliable partner to sport鈥檚 stakeholders,鈥� the country鈥檚 sports minister Farid Gayibov said on Thursday in a of SportAccord, which pledged to announce new dates in Baku 鈥渋n due course.鈥�
The annual conference has traditionally been a forum for cities to lobby and campaign for Olympics and sports event hosting, but has been held just once since 2019.
It was variously because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia鈥檚 full military invasion of Ukraine and the detention of Istanbul鈥檚 mayor by Turkish authorities.
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