I would like the Azerbaijan Premier League to have more teams and greater competition.”
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Farid Gayibov, stated this during his traditional meeting with journalists to review the year’s results, Idman.biz reports.
Discussing the Misli Premier League, he expressed concern about the significant gap between the leader, Qarabag, and the other teams: “The second half of the Premier League has finished, and the point difference between the first and second-place teams concerns me. Qarabag has been the champion for several years, but there is no team to challenge them.”
The minister noted that the creation of competition would also benefit Qarabag: “If there were competition, Qarabag would improve. Today, we feel disappointed when Qarabag loses in European competitions and ask why they didn’t win, but let’s remember that in previous years, we couldn’t even make it past the initial stage.”
Gayibov also expressed concern over the nearly empty stadiums for Premier League games: “During the European Cup games of Qarabag, the Tofig Bahramov Stadium is packed, but local matches in the Azerbaijani league don’t draw fans. We aren’t inviting them correctly. We also have a role to play here. Fans are ready to support. There are crowds at regional matches, so they could come to Baku matches as well. We need to strengthen sports marketing. If we lack specialists, we should invite them from abroad.”
After 18 rounds, Qarabag has 47 points, leading the second-place team by 8 points and the third-place team by 15 points.
Idman.biz
