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"I think AFFA is applying double standards in this matter. Because "Gabala" also played in the First League last season. There was no talk of 3 years in the decision of the Executive Committee on March 14. It was noted that the issue of giving a grace period to the clubs playing in the Premier League should be considered. It was not written there that "did not play in the elite for 3 years". They themselves added this 3-year issue later so that it would not apply to "Gabala". This is very clear. There is a different approach to our club."
Idman.biz reports that these ideas were expressed by Sabuhi Safiyarlı, the sports director of "Gabala", in his statement to Futbolinfo.az.
The functionary stated that they learned about AFFA's decision to make concessions to other teams coming from the First League - "Karvan-Yevlax" and "Imishli" only from the press, and that no official information was presented to them: "We read the decision from the press, because no official information was given to us. No one explained why our application with the same request was not accepted, nor was anything asked of us. This is the decision of the federation. Even if we have to, we will fulfill the requirements. But there will be difficulties. Our U-15, U-17 and reserve teams will train in Baku. It is very difficult to find a place for both games and training there. We also wrote in the letter that we should be allowed to liquidate the reserve team in order to focus on the more promising 19-year-olds. In this case, we could create better conditions for them. Now, on the contrary, we will have to spend a large part of the funds allocated to other age groups and the academy on the reserve team."
Safyarly also touched upon the difficulties the club is experiencing: "As you know, we have abolished the dormitory system in the academy and certain restrictions have been applied. Because some of our age groups mainly feature football players from outside, this creates a big difficulty. We appealed to AFFA and stated that we should be given a concession for one of our teams. But it was not possible. Now we will have to release the 15 and 17 age groups to competitions from Baku. Because we can neither provide a dormitory in Gabala, nor is enough staff formed with local football players. In the reserve team, there are only 2-3 football players. Last season we mainly played with young people, now those football players will already play in the 19-year-olds' championship. We informed the federation about this in a letter, we asked them to take us into account as well. When we played in the First League last season, there was no reserve team requirement, we didn't have one either. Now we have to build a team from scratch. If other clubs have been given a 1-year grace period, they could have given us this opportunity as well."
Regarding the financial issue, Safiyarly thinks that the current decisions disrupt the balance between the clubs: "At least 80-100 thousand manats are required to maintain each age group. If they free the clubs from this obligation, it means a saving of 300-400 thousand manats. The existence of a reserve team further increases the cost. This decision creates difficulties for us in competition, while giving an advantage to other clubs. We are also experiencing financial problems. That's why we abolished the dormitory system in the academy. Although our infrastructure is good, the support given to other clubs was not given to us. No concessions were made in any area. This decision disrupts the competitive environment in terms of finance."
Idman.biz
