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Turkmen President Slams Sports Chief Over Poor Olympic Showing


Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has publicly criticized his sports chief for the country's poor showing at the Rio Olympics.

"It's disappointing that even with all the facilities provided, you could not justify the trust of the nation," Berdymukhamedov told the chief of the sports committee, Kaakbay Seiidov, on state television.

None of Turkmenistan’s nine athletes managed to get past the qualification rounds. Turkmenistan has never won a single Olympic medal.

Berdymukhammedov told Seiidov that he had failed to do all he could "to increase the sporting authority of the fatherland."

The president warned Seiidov to "make good on these shortcomings” or he would be fired.

In 2012, Berdymukhammedov fired a previous sports chief after a poor performance at the London Olympics.

Berdymukhammedov has spent billions in constructing world-class sports facilities for the country to host the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in September 2017.

Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax

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