A meeting between the Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan Farid Gayibov and AFFA Executive Vice President Elkhan Mammadov was held at AFFA headquarters today.
The meeting was initiated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and attended by AFFA Vice President Vagif Sadigov, head coach of Azerbaijan national team Gianni De Biasi, head of Grassroots Department Farrukh Ismayilov and leading consultant of the football sector of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Aliniyaz Mirzayev.
Welcoming the Minister of Youth and Sports, Elkhan Mammadov, first of all, congratulated Mr. Gayibov on his appointment on behalf of AFFA officials and football community and wished him the best success in his activities. AFFA Executive Vice President said he was very pleased that the Minister of Youth and Sports started his official meetings with sports organizations from football, the most popular sport in the country. The meeting was held in a business atmosphere and they provided detailed information on the structure and activities of AFFA.
AFFA's annual reports covering the last four years were presented to the Minister, and it was stated that all annual reports from 2010 to 2020 were presented to the public in a transparent manner and can be viewed on AFFA’s official webpage. The Minister was also brought to the attention of several important issues that are currently on the agenda. It was noted that although the sports competition in Azerbaijan Premier League with the participation of 8 teams is at a satisfactory level, AFFA and the Professional Football League wish to increase the number of teams to 10. However, due to the lack of financial resources, it is not possible to increase the number of teams due to the lack of clubs that meet the relevant conditions. However, in order to ensure the activities of potential clubs that can qualify for Premier League, AFFA fully finances several clubs playing in First Division - "Kapaz" (Ganja), "Turan-Tovuz" and "Zagatala". It was noted that the increase in the number of teams would lead to stronger competition in Azerbaijan Premier League, greater potential for the emergence of new players and the expansion of the geography of professional football.
Touching on issues related to youth football, Elkhan Mammadov said that AFFA organizes leagues for all age groups from U-9 to U-19, and AFFA pays also transport costs for teams of children's football schools under the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. In addition, certain games are held on the pitches of the Olympic Sports Complexes, the rent of these pitches is provided by AFFA, and AFFA would be grateful for the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in this regard.
It was noted that during the pandemic football is the only team sport in our country, in which some tournaments are held regularly, and in general, competitions for all age groups from U-9 to U-19. It was reported that a number of important international tournaments and games have been organized in our country in recent years. The Minister was informed that FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup were held in Azerbaijan in 2012, as well as Baku hosted UEFA Futsal Cup Final Four in 2014, UEFA Under-17 European Championship in 2016, UEFA Europa League final match in 2019 and four matches of UEFA EURO-2020 Finals in 2021. The Minister was informed that very important infrastructure projects have been implemented over the past 10 years. AFFA has built a football academy in the territory of AFFA Headquarters, Bakcell Arena, Dalga Arena, Bayil stadium, National Teams Training Center in Mardakan, Agsu city stadium, Football Academy in Tovuz, and construction of Shamakhi city stadium is underway. A football academy is planned to be built in Ganja in the near future. In addition, AFFA has built natural grass turf for the main pitches of Zira Sports Complex, Sumgayit Football Club Stadium, 3 natural grass turf training pitches at Turkish Airlines Base of PFC Neftchi, and 2 natural grass turf training pitches at Baku Olympic Stadium. More than 150 artificial turf pitches have been built in Baku and regions of the country for free use. All these projects were implemented by AFFA, primarily with the financial support of our state, FIFA and UEFA and sponsors. It was noted that SOCAR has been the general sponsor of AFFA for many years and provides great support to AFFA in providing stable financing in football. AFFA also has some other sponsors, but there are some difficulties in continuing cooperation with existing partners and finding new sponsors in connection with the pandemic. At the end of the meeting, it was noted that AFFA would continue to work for the development of football, promotion and encouragement of a healthy lifestyle. Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov thanked for the sincere meeting and detailed information.
