On the eve of the Azerbaijan national team's game against Latvia, AFFA Secretary General Jahangir Farajullayev, who is visiting Riga, held a briefing for journalists.
Idman.biz presents the Secretary General's interview with reference to Fanat.az.
- What impact will this game have on the qualifying round that will start in September?
- It is an important game. It will be a training game. It is a good basis for preparing for the qualifying round. The gathering is taking place in a good mood. I think the result should be good.
- Have you had a personal conversation with head coach Fernando Santos? What are his expectations for tomorrow's meeting?
- Of course, I did. He expects a good game from the team. There will be certain moves in terms of tactics and player selection. The coach trusts his team. I hope everything will be fine.
- My question will be about the Development Strategy. There has been some silence in recent months. However, when you spoke at the conference, you stated that reforms would begin tomorrow. What is the status of the work on the strategy?
- That's a good question. Let me put it this way, it's not silence. Work is being done internally. Reforms are being carried out in the technical direction, starting with personnel matters. For example, a group related to the strategy was created in recent weeks. Two people are already working. A new employee has started working on digital policies and IP solutions in accordance with the strategy. What I mean is that it may seem like silence from the outside, but work is being done. I guess everyone will start seeing the results in the near future.
- At the last meeting of the Executive Committee, the issue related to Tahir Suleymanov's opinion was assigned to the secretariat to consider and discuss the proposal. As far as I know, there was a meeting. What was the proposal about and what were the results of the meeting?
- Yes, we met with Tahir muallim regarding the proposal. We discussed in which direction he wants to work. It was said that there should be another meeting. Tahir muallim should come to that meeting with detailed, concrete proposals so that we can continue our work.
- One of the current issues is related to the stadium. "Imishli" and "Karvan", which have problems in this direction, should play in the Premier League next season.
- These are the expected problems of the transition from 10 teams to 12 teams. When the decision was made, we knew that this problem would arise. Currently, serious work is being done with both "Karvan" and "Imishli". AFFA is trying to help them. We will see progress on the issue in the coming days.
- There are rumors about the abolition of the Reserve League. Has this been discussed?
- There is no decision yet. Maybe there was such an idea during the discussion, but there is no concrete decision in the middle.
- What steps are being taken regarding infrastructure and children's football?
- We must take our first steps regarding infrastructure and determine in which direction we should do it. There is a shortage of grounds and stadiums in children's football, in holding leagues, and we must fix these. Budget planning is very important. It is not possible to carry out all the work at once, it is a 4-year project.
- Is an Executive Committee meeting expected soon?
- If you have noticed, the meetings of the Executive Committee are held in an executive format, that is, in the form of discussions, not as a decision. The next meeting should take place either at the end of June or at the beginning of July. It also depends on the work schedule. We need to complete some work so that the EC members can get acquainted with it and then hold a meeting.
Idman.biz