Idman.biz
"Garadagh Lokbatan", whose departure from the 1st League was formalized in the 26th round, will cease operations.
Idman.biz, referring to Sportinfo.az, reports that the club's management informed the coaches and players about this after the game with "Karvan" (2:2).
During the meeting with them, the functionaries spoke about the current situation and announced that they would not compete in the 2nd League. According to them, they have no intention of allocating funds to the team, which could not maintain its place in the 1st League.
"Garadagh Lokbatan" is one of the most experienced participants in the lower division. The settlement club has played here for 16 consecutive seasons.
In the 2009/10 season, the team joined the competition under the name "Neftchi" ISM, and after 2 years it was transformed into "Garadagh Lokbatan". The team was also one of the most successful competitors in the lower division. "Garadagh Lokbatan", which fought for the championship until the last rounds last year and lost the ticket to the Premier League in the fight with "Shamakhi", has been among the award winners 7 times. Although they became champions in the 2011/12 and 2021/22 seasons, they could not get a license for the Premier League. The team, which took 2nd place in the 1st League in the 2012/13, 2015/16, 2017/18 and 2023/24 seasons, finished 3rd in the 2013/14 season.
"Garadagh Lokbatan" also finished last in the 2019/20 season, as it is now. But the 13-team championship was both interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, and because there was no second division, the rule of relegation did not work.
It should be noted that the Baku club, which drew 2:2 with "Karvan" away, formalized the last place with one round to go. "Garadagh Lokbatan", which has 23 points, is 3 points behind "Difai" and "Jabrayil". Since the number of wins is taken as the basis when the points are the same, the settlement representative has lost the chance to overtake any of the other two teams.
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