CUTTING DOWN

The current year 2016 will be a significant one for Azerbaijani football. In May Baku is to host the European Championship for 17-year-old footballers. The ending of the 2005-2015 state programme for the development of football will not interfere with the clubs' plans for the future, since the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) is drawing up a new programme and is anticipating that this document will be approved in the next few months. On the other hand, starting this year, a lowering of the prices of transfers and local footballers, as well as league players, is being observed. This fact will undoubtedly make its own impact on the development of football in the country.

AFFA General Secretary Elxan Mammadov spoke to Regionplus about the plans for the future and the trends in the development of Azerbaijani football.

- Let's talk about last year to start off with. For what made 2015 memorable for Azerbaijani football?

-2015 was a very important year for our football. For the first time in the history of Azerbaijani football two of our clubs were battling away simultaneously in the main stage of the [UEFA] Europa League. Azerbaijani champion club Qarabag managed to attain success for the second year in a row. In addition, a representative of Agdam retained the chance to join in the play-off until the last round. Unfortunately, this time it wasn't successful. But I believe that in the future, Qarabag will make us happy. In 2015, the Qabala club got through into the group stage. Starting from 2012 Neftci managed to get this right, and then Qarabag. Now it is Qabala. We are hoping that in the coming year at least two of our teams will play in the group tournaments as well.

This year Rashad Sadygov's name went down in the history of our football as the first footballer to play 100 matches for the team. In this connection, before the Azerbaijan-Italy game, the UEFA deputy secretary general presented an award to the captain of our team. So, the fact that Rasad Sadigov had played 100 games for the team was officially confirmed by UEFA. Another interesting moment linked with last year was the presence at the Baku Olympic Stadium of a record 48,000 fans who had come to watch the Azerbaijan-Italy game. Such a large number of fans watching a match at the stadium makes us very pleased.

- Who was the best coach and the best football player in Azerbaijan in 2015? We are interested to learn what you think.

- Naturally, Qurban Qurbanov achieved the best result. The greatest advantage of Qarabag's chief coach is that he does a lot of work on himself, constantly strives to develop himself and to improve his knowledge. Every year we become witnesses to how much Qurban Qurbanov has developed. As far as the best footballer is concerned, I will reply like a fan. I think that Rahid Amirquliyev, who plays for Xazar-Lankaran club, stands out for his persistence. He puts his maximum into every game. He showed his positive side in almost all the games in 2015.

- In 2016, the final of the Europa championship for under seventeens is to take place in Baku. At what stage is the preparatory work for this prestigious tournament?

- The European championship for 17-year-old football players is to take place in Baku in May. This tournament will not cost us much. We shall use the AFFA and state stadiums built in 2012. There is no need for new stadiums, since the infrastructure is already there. There will be administrative costs, but UEFA will recompense them.

- Starting in 2016, many federations have begun to make economies. Will AFFA also have to make cuts in its budget?

- To be frank about it, AFFA began to economise back in the third quarter of 2015. From January 2016 we stepped up that process. As you know, we have cut back on a number of projects. Directors financed by AFFA were operating at the clubs. Their contracts expired in March. Last year we had a meeting with them at which we expressed our desire to put the project on hold. As a result, the project was ceased on 1 January. We have tried to make optimal use of the budget. As far as the clubs are concerned, we shall undoubtedly have certain problems.

Foreign footballers play for some clubs, so the contracts concluded with them are paid in foreign currency. These clubs will have difficulties in paying owing to the change in the exchange rate, since they receive their income in manats. So, a problem has arisen paying salaries in foreign currency. The clubs will probably discuss this problem with the footballers soon. From summer this year we shall try to conclude contracts solely in Azerbaijani currency. Football players will earn less. The capital investments in football as a whole will also be reduced. I think our entire sport should keep to a policy of making optimal use of the budget.

- Today the leading clubs in Europe and the world are experiencing financial problems. What should the Azerbaijani clubs do to avoid this problem?

- They need to think about the outgoings not just for this year, but for next year as well. If we set about this process now, we shall be prepared for 2017. In general, we need to try and cut down on the expenditure from our budget. But we do have some good news. At the end of 2015, those clubs that took part in the Europa League received their incomes from UEFA in euros. These funds need to be used as economically as possible.

- Not many matches are played at the Baku Olympic Stadium. What will the country's biggest football facility be used for in the future?

- We are trying to use the Olympic Stadium as much as we can. Four matches in the European Champi-onship are to be played there in 2020. Up until then, we shall attempt to make the stadium as popular as possible. Numerous issues have arisen. We are aware of our weak spots when it comes to organisation. Some volunteers are not sufficiently familiar with the stadium. They don't know how to show the visitors who arrive to their seats quickly. We have therefore taken the decision that the Azerbaijani team will play its home matches at the Baku Olympic Stadium from this year on. This is a splendid arena, the best stadium in the region, of which every fan can be proud.

- News has it that a new state programme for the development of football is being drawn up. Which years will it apply to?

- The initial documents for the new state programme have been submitted. It may also include the Euro-2020 championship. It is better to have a single extensive state programme rather than several programmes. In 2020 Baku is to hold one of the major sports competitions in our history. The European Championship is to take place in 13 cities in Europe. Three games in the group stage and one match in the quarter finals are to take place here. The state should specify the length of the programme. The programme may be calculated to last five, seven and even 10 years.

- Prosinecki. Is AFFA satisfied with the job done by the new coach?

- At the moment, it is still too early to assess his work. [Robert] Prosinecki was appointed in the middle of the last knock-out rounds. His belief in the Azerbaijani team is heartening. The team has begun to play aggressive football. We are anticipating that Prosinecki will produce big players. We are hoping the next knock-out rounds will be more successful. Prosinecki has overseen six matches out of 10 as the chief coach. We are anticipating that both the coach and the team will produce some successes at the knock-out stage of the World Championship. We will only be able to evaluate the job Prosinecki has done after the new knock-out rounds.