National Judo Federation of Georgia

What it is

The National Judo Federation of Georgia governs judo in one of the strongest judo nations in the world. Its statute records it as the legal successor of a body registered in 1991, re-registered in 1997 and again in 2000, and declares it the sole governing organisation for judo in Georgia. Levan Nozadze was elected president on 28 September 2024 as sole candidate, his predecessor being statutorily ineligible after two terms.^[1] [2]

It runs 13 regional branches. Voting rights within it are earned by competition record rather than granted: a registered club that competed in at least three of the last four club championships gains a voting delegate. Georgia's Olympic judo record stands at 5 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze, with 14 world titles.^[1] [3]

How the national team is selected

The statutory basis is clear. Georgia's Law on Sport provides that the national sports federation composes the national team and presents it internationally, and that national teams are prepared and composed by the federations.^[4]

Inside the federation, the president appoints and dismisses the head coaches of the national and age-group teams, and the executive committee approves them, their assistants, and the membership of the coaches' council. The clearest published statement of practice comes from an executive committee decision directing "the head coach of the national team" when "selecting the team," and providing that the exact date of squad composition is determined by the head coach.^[1] [5]

Below that sits a genuine qualification pathway: only athletes reaching a set round in the East and West Georgia zonal licensing tournaments enter the Georgian Championship — the last 16 in the east, the quarter-final in the west — with losers regrouped and the best progressing, and direct entry for anyone with a top-three senior finish at a European Championship, World Championship or Olympic Games. Age-group national rankings are published as dated documents; seniors are referred to the world ranking.^[6] [7]

An honest gap. The federation publishes regulations, executive-committee decisions and minutes, but no published order naming individual national-team members could be found, and the roster pages render without names. Anyone needing to evidence a Georgian judoka's selection should request the call-up and the coaches' council or executive committee minutes from the federation directly.^[1]

Georgian law does recognise national-team membership as a status with legal consequences: national-team members who medal at the Olympics or win world or European titles may enrol at the state physical education university without national examinations, by individual act of the education minister.^[8]