Tahir Suleymanov: "A new era begins in Azerbaijani football"

"AFFA turned to McKinsey and Double Pass to prepare the Development Strategy. Frankly, the process was difficult at first, it was imperative to know, research, and conduct in-depth analyzes of Azerbaijani football, the local football environment, and the real situation." This was stated by FIFA referee, former vice-president of "Neftchi", currently the head of the Baku Football Federation Public Union Tahir Suleymanov in an interview with Sport24.az. Suleymanov stated that the AFFA leadership is sensitive to the opinions of Belgian experts: "Taking this into account, the association appealed to its members, clubs, asking them to submit proposals and opinions. At the same time, appeals were made to various organizations, the football community, and meetings were held with media representatives. This ensured transparency. Unfortunately, many member organizations took a neutral approach to the crucial strategic issue, no proposals were made, and some were limited to simple 3-5 opinions. In accordance with the appeal, I prepared and submitted a large package of proposals to AFFA. As a logical result of this, a meeting was held with representatives of a foreign company. It was a very tense, constructive discussion, the essence of the problems was discussed in detail, mutual exchange of views took place, the current situation in the country's football was proved with arguments, it was recommended to be more sensitive to the problems, it was brought to the attention of the company representatives. Subsequent processes, our regular conversations, and meetings with the AFFA leadership showed that Belgian experts are sensitive to the proposals." He noted that the new AFFA leadership's non-avoidance of problems is a positive aspect: After it was noted that our proposals regarding the development strategy were received very positively in the Executive Committee, it became clear that the problems, the preparation of the Development Strategy, are taken seriously and that our official proposals will not only be taken into account to a large extent, but will also be reflected in the strategy. After the final preliminary version of the AFFA Development Strategy was published, we actually witnessed this. All this and the overall volume of the Development Strategy show that a new era is beginning in Azerbaijani football. Although many issues had to be resolved within the framework of the 2005-2015 program, during a period when ample financial resources were available. The fact that the new AFFA leadership does not avoid problems and undertakes a very large factual and moral burden and responsibility is a positive aspect. The mistakes of the past should not be repeated, serious attention should be paid to reforms and personnel selection, financial support should be resolved, and finally, the revival and development of Azerbaijani football should begin."