AFFA representative: The main problem in football academies is not infrastructure, but coach development and the number of players

The biggest shortcoming in the academies of football clubs in Azerbaijan is the scarcity of self-development resources for coaches.

This was stated by AFFA representative Sarkhan Huseynov, a coach specialist-coordinator for the development of club academies, in an interview with "Report".

"The main difficulty and the main obstacle to development is the limited opportunities for coaches to develop themselves. Currently, there are not enough systematic development resources for coaches in the period from one license stage to another. However, coaching is a profession that requires continuous learning and daily development. There are enough qualified coaches in our country, both in the Premier League and in the lower leagues. The main issue is to provide them with appropriate resources and create an environment for continuous self-development," the expert said.

He also highlighted the shortage of players in the clubs' academies:

"The main problem is not infrastructure. Of course, there is a need to further improve the infrastructure, but with the exception of only a few clubs, this issue is not a decisive factor. For example, there is almost no infrastructure in Imishli now - only a 60x40 concrete-covered area remains as a result of the loss of the previously used base. On the other hand, most of our academies are not large - each has approximately 150–250 players. For comparison, I worked in Finland for 10 years, and my main coaching activity was with the Honka club. Although this club was not an elite representative, it had 1,600 registered players and operated with only 3 standard-sized fields. From this point of view, the existence of a stadium for 200 players is quite adequate in our conditions. In some cases, there are problems with lighting, which especially limits training hours in winter months."

You can read the full text of the interview here.