"First of all, I congratulate the newly elected president of AFFA and the members of the Executive Committee. I wish them an active, confident start. May their efforts result in success and victories."
Football veteran Adil Huseynov said this in his statement to Idman.biz.
The former football player, who played for Neftchi, Nakhchivan's Araz and other clubs in the 70s of the last century, evaluated the activities of AFFA: "Today, football is an important social event in the world, and as we can see, the state pays special attention to the promotion of this sport and the development of football. The "State Program for the development of football in the Republic of Azerbaijan" approved by the head of the country, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, serves the development of football in the country and achieving success in international competitions. The success of Azerbaijani football is measured by the performance of national teams in international competitions, including the world and European championships, the Olympic Games, and the performances of clubs in European tournaments. Unfortunately, despite the state support, since 1992, when AFFA was established, until now, our national teams, with the exception of Aghdam's Qarabag team, our clubs have not achieved great success in the international arena. We have to admit that professional football in Azerbaijan is still far from the standards of the leading European championships.”
Huseynov did not hide his optimistic approach to the changes in the management of the organization after the Report-Election Conference of AFFA and announced his expectations from the national team: "Our goal is to see our national team among the best in the world. For this, our team must become a competitive force. Currently, there are few high-level players in the national team. As soon as our national teams in lower age groups perform successfully in the world and European championships, a high result can be predicted for the main team of the country."
The football veteran also touched on Georgia's qualification for EURO-2024: "Georgia is a neighboring and friendly country for us, hundreds of thousands of our compatriots live in that country. Their joy is our joy. I wish the Georgian national team to perform successfully at EURO-2024. In order to compare the football of two neighboring countries, it is important to look at history, to analyze the performances of national teams, the participation of clubs in European Cups, the results, FIFA and UEFA ratings, and finally to evaluate the number and level of players who play outside their own country.”
Huseynov spoke about the work to be done by the new leadership of AFFA: "Taking into account the popularity of football and its role in the education of the young generation, a new strategy for the development of this sport should be prepared by AFFA. In this strategy, first of all, special attention should be paid to the discrepancy between the current state of football and the success of the republic in the socio-economic field. At the same time, the strategy should focus on increasing the number of people involved in all types of football, improving the management system, ensuring monitoring of public opinion on the organization, etc. There is a saying of the fathers: "If you look from afar, the battle is easy. The scale of the problems that AFFA is facing at this stage is such that their solution can be achieved only with the joint efforts of the state, professionals, journalists, bloggers and the entire football community. Clubs have to try to fund themselves, our football is far from the people - the fans have no control over their favorite sport and at the same time, unfortunately in some cases there is not enough fan culture, I mean the individuals who use offensive words and are in the minority. I really hope that they will take this into account and come to the right conclusion. We must all understand that whether we are players on the field, referees or fans in the stands, we are citizens of the same country, we are subject to the same laws, but we must adhere to the principles of sports, including the principles of fair play.”
The veteran football player also touched on the situation of the clubs: "Azerbaijani clubs themselves are very unprofitable. Sponsors want immediate results. There were those who stopped their activities for various reasons, including financial difficulties. The financial situation is not encouraging, with the exception of 3-4 clubs, club budgets are mainly formed due to donations received from the state. At the same time, funding from marketing and broadcasting is minimal. The money obtained from the sale of tickets to loyal fans of most clubs during matches in stadiums is enough to cover a small part of the expenses of the teams.”
It should be noted that the former football player is currently the vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Azerbaijan, an associate professor of the Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC) and a member of the Narimanov district municipality of Baku.
Idman.biz
