The recent decisions made by the AFFA Executive Committee have sparked significant debate. While the decision to increase the number of teams in the Premier League has largely been welcomed, the abolition of the legionnaire limit has divided opinions.
There are plenty who believe the decision to remove the limit was a mistake, while others see it as a positive step forward, Idman.biz reports.
Let’s set aside the decision-makers and those debating the issue, and focus on the future of our football — the children.
Today, hundreds of young football players, who may not fully understand what the limit even means, are joyfully chasing the ball in their teams. At their age, they do not dream of foreign cars, villas, or large sums of money. They have no ulterior motives. They are not yet concerned with such thoughts. These children live in their own world, with their own dreams.
They dream of one day joining a professional club, imagining their beloved ball and the field they work so hard to perfect their skills on. And there are many such dreams.
For years now, thousands of children, teenagers, and young adults have been honing their skills in the leagues organized systematically by AFFA, with 626 teams in 13 centers, involving a total of 12,994 players (12,274 boys and 720 girls).
These kids are pushing themselves hard, balancing schoolwork, training, and football. Some even pursue individual training, or a combination of individual and athletics preparation. The journey they take is long, the fatigue immense...
Everything is a dream for them. They watch the games of their favorite clubs, dreaming of the day they’ll wear the same jersey. But the recent decision by AFFA seems to shatter these dreams.
There is no need to prove that many children dream of playing for Azerbaijan’s most successful clubs, Qarabag or Neftchi. However, today, these clubs barely have a handful of local players in their main squads. After the abolition of the legionnaire limit, it’s likely that just a few fingers will be enough to count the number of local players. Simply put, the number of children whose dreams come true will drastically decrease.
The same situation applies to other clubs dreaming of winning trophies or going abroad. Today, young players dreaming of playing for the country’s leading clubs may find themselves fighting to stay in the Premier League or playing in lower leagues. They might end up in the Regional League, amateur football, mini football, or beach football...
Of course, in recent years, we’ve seen talented players like Toral Bayramov and Elvin Cafarguliyev emerge. There will always be a few who rise above and honor our strongest teams.
But what about the others? What about their dreams?
Huseyn Vagif
Idman.biz
