STRIKING AGAINST STAGNATION

"A new broom sweeps clean." This phrase applies to the new president of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan - Rovnaq Abdullayev - who also heads the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). He was elected president of AFFA at an extraordinary conference held at its headquarters. In footballing terms, the new head of AFFA beat his opponent - Kamil Rahimov, head of the Amateur Football Federation - by a large score, having gained 29 of the 30 possible votes.

A football programme

The new president expressed a number of interesting ideas for the development of the number one sport in Azerbaijan. Specifically, he expressed the idea that football should be exempt from tax and he intends to implement this idea. Abdullayev also stressed that one of the priorities of his work will be the implementation of the state programme on the development of football, which will bear fruit in the foreseeable future. "We will have to work hard because we need to raise the sport to a new level. To this end, we need to develop football as a whole, starting from children's playgrounds," Abdullayev said.

In response, FIFA observer Eva Pasquier said that the future of Azerbaijani football was in safe hands. "I congratulate you on the conference, and I think that you made the right choice," she said. Pasquier presented a FIFA medal to the new president of the association and wished him good luck in this difficult job.

Speaking to journalists, Abdullayev said that he will resign as president of FC Neftci because regulations do not allow him to combine two posts. "For the time being, I don't know who will take my post, but I wish him good luck," he said. At the same time, Abdullayev declined to say anything about the composition of his new team, but he already has some ideas. "I think that fans of football should be working here because they are the driving force of the development of any sport. I think that my team will be complete in the near future," said the new head of the association.

He had more to say about a new chief coach for the national team and let it be known that he will dispense with the services of Gjoko Hadzievski. "We need a coach with a name and experience so that he can raise our team to a new level. This job is not just the coach's responsibility, but also for the managers, who must coordinate their efforts," Abdullayev said.

He also stressed that, beginning from the next round of the country's championship, he will attend matches only in line with his status, without giving preference to any particular club. Foreseeing a question about his possible sympathy for Neftci, Abdullayev said: "I am happy with the success of any Azerbaijani club. For example, when Xazar-Lankaran made it into the final of the Commonwealth Cup, we went to support our team and, after they won, I congratulated them sincerely. Thus it is wrong to say that I will be sympathizing with Neftci."

After the death of former AFFA president Ramiz Mirzayev, AFFA Vice-President Elsad Nasirov became acting president of the association and had to bear the brunt of this work. Being actively involved in the work of AFFA, he repeatedly stressed that he did not intend to run for this post. When the election race began, Rovnaq Abdullayev and Kamil Rahimov put forward their candidacies for the post of AFFA president. The outcome of the election was somewhat predictable, because the head of SOCAR was regarded as the favourite for the post of president of the association, especially as Abdullayev himself is well-aware of the problems of Azerbaijani football and his position as president of SOCAR assures AFFA of serious injections of finance directed at the development of youth football and the infrastructure as a whole, especially in the light of the current state programme on the development of football. These points, and the need to popularize the number one sport in the regions and improve the material-technical base there, formed the basis of Abdullayev's election programme. His programme also says that it is necessary to revive amateur football by building a chain of children's playgrounds, setting up a football academy and improving the work of sports schools. He drew special attention to the club structure, because it is important to set up children's teams on this basis in order for the growing generation of footballers to perfect their skills.

Let's start with football schools

AFFA Secretary-General Elxan Mammadov also touched upon this subject, saying that the only aim of most Azerbaijani clubs is success in the domestic arena. "Unfortunately, this is not acceptable to football, and our teams should set themselves higher targets. When we talk about the development of football, we shouldn't forget that it begins with the clubs. There is no need to re-invent the wheel and the main thing is for clubs to open schools, like those of Ajax, Liverpool and Bavaria. The teams themselves nurture a new generation of players, transfer them and all this becomes a business," the AFFA secretary-general said.

Meanwhile, one of the main tasks facing the AFFA president and his team is the issue of the head coach of the national team. The leadership of the association has previously made it clear that it is holding negotiations with several potential candidates for this post, but they are tied to valid contracts for the time being. So to all appearances, AFFA is likely to dispense with the services of Gjoko Hadzievski, who has already found a common language with the footballers and is much loved by fans. The team is temporarily headed by the well-known ex-forward Nazim Suleymanov, who will lead it in a friendly with Lithuania in Vilnius on 26 March. This fixture will be the team's second friendly match this year, following the goalless draw in their February march against Kazakhstan in Antalya.

Suleymanov has also selected the squad for the game. It is notable that three defenders from Olympic have been called up to the national team. This is no accident because the team's leadership of the country's championship is determined not just by the excellent performances of its main driving force, Junivan Suarez, but also by its well-coordinated defence. So goalkeeper Rauf Mehdiyev, as well as Elvin Aliyev and Usim Nduka, who cement the defence, have a wonderful chance to play in Vilnius. At the same time most of the squad are Neftci footballers, including Rasad Sadixov, Zaur Tagizade and Branimir Subasic. Incidentally, Subasic is the leading goal-scorer in the country's current championship and his goal-scoring flair may come in handy in Lithuania. His partners in the forward line may be Xaqani Mammadov from Inter, who has scored 11 goals in the current championship, or Zaur Ramazanov. Remembering that Suleymanov is a recognized master of the forward line, we might suppose that during the away match the visitors will not entrench themselves in defence, but will try their luck nearer their opponents' goal, especially as experience shows that attack is the best form of defence.

At the same time, the coach has not forgotten about those who play abroad. Specifically, defender Sasha Yunisoglu from Groclin, who has already made a name for himself in Polish football, and Sivasspor midfielder Ilqar Qurbanov, who plays a leading role in the team, have been invited to the national team. Suleymanov who graduated from the school of coaches in Moscow, thinks that his team will do well in the match against Lithuania, although the opposition has been doing really well in the European Cup 2008 qualifiers. Lithuania drew with world champions Italy in an away match (1:1) and beat Ukraine. So the host team seems to be a hard nut to crack.

In any case, we should not forget that it will be a friendly and both teams will have only one goal - to prepare properly for the World Cup 2010 qualifiers. To this end, AFFA needs to make up its mind on the appointment of a coach because there is little time left before the qualifiers begin.