Azerbaijani facilities receive major facelift

The East European Association Bureau's (EEAB) biggest project to date has been the reconstruction of the Shafa stadium in Baku during 1999/2000. The stadium will replace the Tofig Bakhramov stadium as the venue for Azerbaijan's home international matches during the EURO 2004™ qualifying round.

Training centre to follow
With the official inauguration of the Shafa stadium on 23 August 2001 was the announcement that the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) had taken the decision to move the project one step further with the construction of a training centre adjacent to the stadium. 

Co-financed project
This project will be the first-ever co-financed project between the FIFA Goal project and the EEAB. For this project, the EEAB will finance the demolition of the actual structure and the construction of the base for three artificial training grounds, while FIFA Goal will fund the cost of the artificial pitches. This centre, which will be the training ground for the youth of the country, is planned to open its doors following an official ceremony in autumn 2002.

Five teams training
A swimming pool and fitness centre is also being installed, and a building containing an auditorium and public restaurant will be constructed. Once the various facilities are complete, up to five teams will be able to train at the same time.