IJF President Marius Vizer met AJF counterpart Rovnag Abdullayev during a visit to Baku ©IJF

International Judo Federation (IJF) President Marius Vizer has visited Azerbaijan to discuss the development of the sport in the country, which features prominently on the IJF calendar.

Baku holds a Grand Slam each year, with this season's edition taking place from May 6 to 8, and Vizer recently revealed the capital city is in contention to host the 2018 or 2019 senior-level World Championships.

In a question and answer session conducted on Twitter, the IJF President also said Paris, Tokyo, Kazan, and Cairo were interested in staging the events.

During his visit, Vizer met with Azerbaijan Judo Federation (AJF) chief Rovnag Abdullayev, awarding him with a Jigoro Kano statue, and praised the state of the sport in the nation, which is currently enjoying record levels of participation.

“I am really grateful for what the Azerbaijan Judo Federation has done so far for the development of judo in the country and in the region,” Vizer said.

“Your country is known for its very good achievements in sports around the world.

“Several world sports organisations and Federations were confident enough to come to Azerbaijan to organise major international events with a lot of success.”

Vizer reaffirmed his support for the AJF ahead of the Grand Slam in May, which is the second event on the calendar following the opening tournament in Paris next month.

It will be a key event in the build-up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

IJF President Marius Vizer presented Rovnag Abdullayev with a memento of his visit
IJF President Marius Vizer presented Rovnag Abdullayev with a memento of his visit, a statue of judo founder Jigoro Kano ©IJF

“Working together with the Azerbaijan Judo Federation is an honour,” Vizer added.

“The Baku Grand Slam is a prestigious event and with the Rio Olympic Games to come, the level will be particularly high this year.”

AJF President Abdullayev heralded the meeting and said he is looking forward to another prosperous year for the nation’s judokas.

“Our President, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, takes great care of the development of the sport in our country and we have already achieved impressive results with our athletes at the Olympic Games as well as at the World or European Championships," he said.

As well as hosting the Baku Grand Slam, last year's inaugural European Games host is also due to stage a refereeing seminar in 2017, which will detail a new set of rules due to be implemented in the next Olympic cycle leading up to Tokyo 2020.