Number of teams will be increased – AFFA approved

On February 3, 2025, the next meeting of the Executive Committee was held in the administrative building of AFFA under the leadership of AFFA President Rovshan Najaf. Sport24.az reports that Executive Vice-President Sarkhan Hajiyev informed about the agenda of the meeting.

Then the issues on the agenda were discussed.

First, the appointment of the new Secretary General of AFFA took place. The Executive Committee decided to appoint Jahangir Farajullayev to this position.

At the meeting, the AFFA budget for 2025 was approved.

Also, the development strategy of AFFA covering 2025-2028 was adopted.

The issue of increasing the number of clubs in the Misli Premier League was discussed at the meeting. It was decided to increase the number of teams from 10 to 12 from the 2025/2026 season. The regulations and format of the championship will be discussed at the next meeting of the Executive Committee.

At the same time, it was decided to abolish the legionnaire limit in the Misli Premier League from the 2025/2026 season. The following criteria will be applied to the legionnaire limit from the new season:

A maximum of 17 foreign players may be on the game's order form.

A maximum of 11 foreign players can play on the field at the same time.

The fee for legionnaire football players will be as follows:

From 1 legionnaire to 7 legionnaires: 5000 (five thousand) AZN

From 8 to 12: 10000 (ten thousand) AZN

From 13 to 15: 100000 (one hundred thousand) AZN

16 and above: 200000 (two hundred thousand) AZN

A fee will be applied to all legionnaires, regardless of whether they are members of their country's national team.

Clubs that play local football players in their squad will be paid a bonus using a special calculation method. Bonuses will be given from the funds received from the legionnaire fee.

The Executive Committee decided to extend the contract period of Ilham Yadullayev, the head coach of the Azerbaijan national team (born in 2008) consisting of football players under 17 years of age, until May 1 in connection with participation in the "UEFA Development Tournament – 2025". The appointment of head coaches of national teams for other age groups will be discussed at the next meeting of the committee.