Azerbaijan, Baku, March 9 /Trend M.Aliyev/
Large-scale participation in football has increased over the past four years, president of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) Rovnag Abdullayev said.
Abdullayev noted that if 1500 children were involved in football in 2008, then this figure has increased to 25,000 today. Various teams in the country have regularly played in international competitions since 2008.
President of AFFA also discussed the need for the further infrastructure development of football in the country. He said that 76 children's football pitches has been built and commissioned for over the past four years, access to which is free. Clubs are also investing heavily in infrastructure projects.
"I believe that every football club will have its own sporting facilities that meet modern standards in a few years, which in turn will increase the number of young people attracted to clubs," the President of AFFA said.
Abdullaev noted that the on-going construction of three stadiums. He stressed the ongoing construction of an Olympic stadium with 65,000 seats. In addition a stadium with 12,000 seats and one at 5000 seats will be commissioned in the Baku residential area '8-km' and the so-called '20th section' in Bail respectively.
Abdullayev also pointed out that the reconstruction of the Republican Tofig Bahramov stadium in Baku will be completed before the World Cup among the girls (U17) event which will be held in Azerbaijan in the autumn.
The letter to UEFA was read and approved at the conference. It outlines the work carried out in Azerbaijan in 2011 to develop football.