QARABAG ROBBED

Another season of European tournaments is over for Azerbaijan's clubs. Qarabag, who worthily represented Azerbaijan in the Europa League said farewell to the second most important club competition following a basic injustice. The team was beaten not by its opponents, but by the officials running the game that day. These officials, led by Miroslav Zelinka, committed an historic mistake in front of the whole of Europe when they declined to award Qarabag an absolutely obvious goal, thereby depriving Qurban Qurbanov's team of the lawful right to be represented in the play-offs of the Europa League.

90 minutes seem like a lifetime

Although Qarabag were well motivated for their final game in the group stage of the Europa League against Inter Milan, a lack of experience and needless haste prevented them getting the result they wanted. The game was only three minutes old when the team from Agdam had their fans excited: a corner was executed straight from the training ground but in the end Rasad Sadigov's finish lacked accuracy. Long balls set Namiq Alaskarov off on the right wing and Vuqar Nadirov in the middle but their opponents' superiority in the air made things difficult for them. After 42 minutes Vuqar Nadirov was hurt and replaced by Namiq Yusifov.

Nadirov's absence made things tough for the team. Despite being deprived of Reynaldo, Dias and Chumbinho, Qarabag continued to control the game in the second half. When news came through midway into the second period that Dnipro had taken the lead against St. Etienne, the fans started to get worried: we all knew that if both matches ended in a draw Qarabag would make the play-offs along with Inter. But now only a win would suit the Azerbaijani champions. Qarabag's desperate efforts finally paid off in the last minute of added time. Taking advantage of confusion in front of the Inter goal, Richard Almeida shot and the ball, ricocheting off the leg of an Inter defender, ended in the back of the net. But for some reason the referee disallowed the goal, indicating that Qarabag's Leroy George, who did not even touch the ball, was in an offside position. So, Zelinka, the referee, stole deserved victory from the Azerbaijani team.

After the final whistle the players' emotions are hard to describe. Captain Rasad Sadigov was in tears. Ilqar Qurbanov, Namiq Yusifov and Richard Almeida tried in vain to get the referee to change his decision. This injustice will remain on Zelinka's conscience and the fans and the press will "let him know about it". Be that as it may, it is Dnipro, who managed to hold on and beat St. Etienne 1-0, who go through to the next stage.

Double standards from UEFA

As a matter of fact, the referee's gross injustice exposed the outline of a secret plan prepared by UEFA. In this instance honest football became the victim of the stand-off between the West and Russia in Ukraine. The European Football Association was determined at all costs to drag Dnipro into the play-offs. This intention was made clear in a match in the fourth round between Qarabag and Dnipro in Baku, which ended in a 2-1 victory for the Ukrainians. On that occasion the actions of the Polish officials also attracted a lot of criticism from the experts about biased officiating. So the shocking refusal to award Qarabag a goal in their last match against Inter must go down to UEFA. The fact that Dnipro's vital goal in the match against St. Etienne was from an obvious offside position also strengthens the doubts of the experts. And whereas the goal from an offside position in Kiev was awarded, the situation in Baku was exactly the reverse.

Clearly, the banners such as "UEFA-MAFIA", which have appeared at grounds in France, Spain and Italy were not there by chance. UEFA, which operates a policy of double standards, has once again closed its eyes to a refereeing error.

UEFA's Regulations, adopted in 2014, include an extremely important point. Article 50 - "Admissibility of Protests" - includes a regulation allowing the result of a match affected by a gross refereeing error to be annulled. Whether an offside decision comes under this regulation is unclear.

The ending of the match 35 seconds before the end of time could also serve as a pretext for protest. Mr Zelinka ended the game immediately after making his final decision not to award the goal, thereby making the injustice against Qarabag official.

Although Qarabag sent a letter of complaint to UEFA about the mistake by the referee, Mr Zelinka, this does not mean the result of the match will be changed. The approach of the world's top football organizations - FIFA and UEFA - to this question is clear: even in the event of a refereeing mistake the result of the match remains unchanged. In exceptional circumstances UEFA and FIFA may punish officials without commenting on their decisions. So the chances of a change in the result are extremely slim.

World press supports Qarabag

The rough justice of the officials did not escape the attention of the world's press. Influential papers and magazines in Spain, Turkey, Italy, Brazil, Netherlands, Russia and Britain all pointed out that Qarabag should be in the play-offs. Commenting on the game in a live broadcast, one Russian referee said Qarabag had been "robbed" of victory.

Interestingly, Mr Zelinka's injustice was also acknowledged by the Italian press and also the commentators who went to Baku with Inter.

The mistake by the Czech referee Miroslav Zelinka has been debated in his own country, too. Novasport pointed out that Mr Zelinka failed to award Qarabaq a deserved goal. Czech journalists said that this referee has made a lot of mistakes over the years. Last year, in the Czech championship, he was banned from refereeing for four matches and later not allowed to officiate for another five rounds of matches. Czech journalists believe he will be punished by UEFA.

Qarabag break records

In any event, the Azerbaijani champions improved on our performances in European cup tournaments this season. Qurban Qurbanov's team ended up with 6 points, which is two more than Azerbaijan's first representative in the group stage - Neftci in 2012-13. The Agdam team finished third in their group.

Interestingly, two years ago Neftci were also in the same group as Inter Milan and were, like Qarabag, able to take a point from their famous opponents. Whereas Qarabag drew 0-0 with Inter in Baku, Neftci managed a 2-2 draw in Milan.

Thanks, Qarabag!

Despite everything, we must congratulate the Azerbaijani champions, Qarabag, their chief coach Qurban Qurbanov and all the players for raising the standard of Azerbaijani football and bringing the fans back to the grounds. You fought well in Europe, you never gave up in any match and kept going whatever the outcome.

Qarabag has been progressing gradually towards each success. Three times they have been within a whisker of the group stage. But they haven't given up. If they carry on as they are, the team from Agdam will very soon earn the right to reach the play-offs. Although the referee in the Inter match didn't award the goal, for us Qarabag will always be a winning team!

AT FIRST HAND

"We've seen all the videos. It was clearly a goal. The ball entered the net after rebounding from an opponent. We don't understand the referee's decision. That sort of decision is a big risk. Even one of the Inter players admitted to me after the game that the ball touched him before going into the net. It's a pity he didn't tell the referee. The goal should have been awarded."

Qurban Qurbanov, Qarabag's chief coach

"It was a good game. Both teams played well. I was impressed with the way our opponents played. It's a shame Qarabag couldn't have made it to the next round. Anything can happen in football. The home team had good scoring chances but couldn't take them. If they had, everything would have been different."

Roberto Mancini, Inter's chief coach

"I am speechless. We were all chuffed with the goal, but that's fate for you. I looked at the referee. He took 10-15 seconds to make his decision. I asked the linesman but I didn't understand what he said. He was right in line and could see it was a good goal…Perhaps that won't ever happen again, at least for me. I just can't find the words. We had problems with our line-up but we couldn't make the necessary changes. We tried to defend well and catch our opponents on the counter-attack. We had our chances. If we hadn't scored that goal perhaps we wouldn't be so upset. I expect we'll remember this for years to come."

Rasad Sadigov, Qarabag's captain

"Qarabag should have been in the draw on 15 December. Our club played very well. We shall be filing a complaint to UEFA. Although it won't affect the result, justice will be restored. The management would not want to put pressure on the players. Our club will continue to play in Europe. In future UEFA should send more experienced referees for our matches. We shall always fight for the highest objectives."

Tahir Guzel, Qarabag's vice-president