Idman.biz
In December 2025, the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) made an important amendment to its statute: exceptionally, one female football player is allowed to be included in the squad of boys' teams in the 8-11 age category.
This decision was made against the backdrop of widespread media discussion of the story of talented 9-year-old athlete Nuray Imanzade. Nuray had requested AFFA to allow her to participate in matches with boys. The issue is that the academy of the "Sumgayit" football club, where Nuray trains, is not represented in the U12 league among women due to a lack of female football players. Agamusa Bagirov, coordinator for lower age groups at the "Sumgayit" academy and an Honored Coach, had previously reported this to Idman.Biz.
Idman.Biz spoke with Nuray's father, Jabir Imanov, about how AFFA's decision affected his daughter. According to him, both he and Nuray greeted the news of the amendment to the statute with great joy.
"Recently, Nuray played her first official match as part of the "Shimal" team, which consists of boys. Although the team lost to "Hakari" with a score of 3:5, my daughter scored two of the three goals," said Jabir Imanov.
He added that it is not difficult for Nuray to play in a team where she is the only girl: "On the contrary, she enjoys playing with boys very much. The number of girls in football has already increased significantly, but Nuray stands out. She plays at the same level even with older football players and is not inferior to 13-year-old boys at all."
Jabir Imanov emphasized that AFFA's decision gave his daughter additional motivation and expressed hope that such changes would have a positive impact on the development of women's football in general.
"It is impossible to separate Nuray from the ball. Currently, there is a one-month break in the academy, but despite this, she continues to train with boys in another location. After the break, she will continue training both there and at the academy," he noted.
