"In Azerbaijan, competitions in women's football will be held across 4 leagues in the 2025/2026 season."
Idman.biz reports that Zumrud Agayeva, head of AFFA's Women’s Football Department, stated this in an interview to Report news agency.
The official noted that starting from the new season, several decisions regarding women’s football in Azerbaijan have been made: “Last season, we held meetings with representatives of all teams participating in the girls' leagues. This year, we have also invited new teams based on applications. In the 2025/2026 season, competitions will be held in U-12, U-14, U-16, and the Senior Girls League. We cannot provide details about the format yet as the registration process will continue until the end of August. Once the number of teams is known, we will determine the appropriate format. The U-16 League and the Senior Girls League will be played on a home-and-away basis. The U-12 league will have a mass participation character. We aim to discover new talents and ensure mass involvement. This will be a fundamental league for us. In the future, girls coming out of the U-12 league will be invited primarily to the U-15 national team. The Senior Girls League’s goal is to bring together and have players from the U-17, U-19, and senior national teams play there. The U-16 League will serve as a transitional platform for players nominated for the U-15 and U-17 national teams.”
The department head also mentioned that a rejuvenation process will take place in the leagues: “The purpose of rejuvenation in the league is to directly impact quality and create a large pool of players. This will also increase the number of teams. Moreover, the intensity will be high, and competition will rise. Players born in 2010 will also play in the Senior League. This is due to their physical readiness. Because when players of this age go abroad, they face older and tougher opponents. The competition in Azerbaijan’s U-16 League is low, and they are not ready to compete against strong opponents in Europe. Our girls’ physical condition and technical training do not allow it. We also consulted with head coaches of all age group national teams. We decided to increase the number of girls and carry out a rejuvenation process to allow talented players to play in older teams.”
She added: “Last year, there were 122 girls in the Senior League. Our goal is to increase this number above 200 and raise competition. U-16 is the last league for younger age groups, followed by the Senior Girls League. I believe that allowing players under 16 to play in this league will positively affect both the number of players and the quality. This will prevent problems related to the number of teams in championships and reduce technical losses. This experience has been implemented abroad as well. We have researched this in several countries. In Europe, it is recommended that members of U-16 national teams play in older and neighboring countries’ leagues. We consulted with coaches, and AFFA leadership positively welcomed these decisions.”
Idman.biz
