UEFA/FIFA delegation proposes Azeri solution

Football in Azerbaijan is to be reorganised, and the domestic championship should restart soon, as a result of talks aimed at ending the country's football crisis.

Long-standing conflicts
A joint UEFA/FIFA delegation visited Azerbaijan last week, in an attempt to resolve long-standing conflicts within the country's football family. The domestic championship is at a standstill, while certain clubs say they do not recognise Mr Fuad Mussaev as the legitimate president of the national association, the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA).

Wide-ranging talks
Representatives of UEFA and FIFA met each of Azerbaijan's top-flight clubs individually to listen to their concerns, and the joint delegation from the European and world bodies also spoke to senior Azerbaijan sports political officials to gain an overall picture of the situation.

Status quo
The delegation concluded its talks by proposing a solution to the conflict. This solution involves keeping the status quo with respect to AFFA's president. In addition, the domestic championship would restart under the sole control of AFFA, and the clubs are being asked to request participation by 15 September - the latest date to enable them to play in next season’s international competitions.

Working group
A working group, involving representatives of UEFA, FIFA, AFFA, the Azerbaijan Ministry of Sports and Azerbaijani clubs, will be set up to draw up new AFFA statutes and national championship regulations. The new regulations are expected to be finalised by the end of this year.

New statutes
It is also foreseen that the AFFA Congress will be held at the end of the year to approve new statutes, as well as to elect the President and the members of AFFA's executive committee in accordance with the new statutes.

September meeting
This proposal will be sent by FIFA to AFFA and the Azerbaijan Ministry of Sports on Monday. The working group will gather for its first meeting in Zurich on 11 September 2002.