Ilham Aliyev received members of Qarabag football club

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received members of Qarabag football club.

Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- My warm greetings to all of you. Football Club "Qarabagh" successfully represents our country in international competitions. You have been delighting fans for many years, raising the flag of Azerbaijan high. As you know, the development of football is a state policy in Azerbaijan, a state program has been adopted. I am sure that football will develop even more rapidly in Azerbaijan in the coming years.

At present, Azerbaijan is generally known in the world as a sporting nation. All reputable international sports organizations speak highly of Azerbaijan’s achievements. The General Assembly of the European Olympic Committee held in Baku recently highlighted sport-related development in Azerbaijan. Senior guests such as the President of the International Olympic Committee and the President of the European Olympic Committee acknowledge Azerbaijan’s successes. The successful performance of our athletes, the infrastructure created in our country and the attention being paid to sport by the state are worthy of approval, of course. Our athletes also make us, the people of Azerbaijan, very happy. In the 2012 Olympic Games, Azerbaijan won 30th place team competitions and finished 15th among European nations. A great young generation is emerging. They, in turn, will represent our country in future competitions among adults.

In this year's Youth Olympic Games in China, our team rose to 10th place. Just imagine – we finished 10th in the world in the Games held with the participation of nearly 200 countries. It is a historic victory. Look at the great professionalism of this young generation, of our children who have grown up in the years of independence! At the same time, they have a high level of patriotism. In sports, as I am sure you know, there are several factors that underpin the victory of an athlete or team. First of all, professionalism, training, of course, proper organization of the training process, the relationship between coaches and athletes, and at the same time the aspiration to victory and patriotic feelings – all of these are very important factors.

Our athletes make us happy and I am sure that we will achieve even greater victories in the future. The Azerbaijani government also pursues a consistent policy related to the development of sports. Sports infrastructure is created. In recent years we have built more than 50 Olympic centers, of which more than 40 are in the regions. As I said, there is a state program on the development of football. At the same time, stadiums are built. Our main Tofig Bahramov Stadium has been overhauled. "Dalga" stadium in Mardakan and "8th km" stadium have been built, stadiums are built in the regions.

Finally, our biggest stadium, the Olympic stadium, will be opened in the near future. It will be the biggest, the most beautiful and the most modern Olympic stadium in the region. It will be a great pleasure for every footballer to play in it.

The stadium itself, its location and infrastructure around it are at the highest level. In parallel with this, Lake Boyukshor located behind the stadium is now being cleaned as part of a special environmental project. Its first phase is scheduled for completion next year. Even now, while this clean-up is still under way, migratory birds are coming to Lake Boyukshor.

This is the main indicator. In other words, a lake that was a source of environmental disaster over the years is now being cleaned. A great ecological environment will be created there.

I can’t say that our players delight us too often. But there are also many beautiful moments, and Football Club "Qarabagh" is one of the clubs that give our people these moments. On this occasion I want to congratulate you and express my gratitude. Your successful performances and victories inspire and delight the fans. You give our people the joy of victory.

In particular, your performance in the latest competition, the Europa League, is worthy of the highest praise. The budgets of clubs playing in the same group with you are by far bigger than yours, perhaps more than 10 times. But in life, sports and politics, money doesn’t decide everything. Your affection to the motherland, patriotism, professionalism and determination have brought these victories. You have competed with all the teams very successfully and achieved major victories. Anyone interested in football in Azerbaijan and in the world knows and sees that you deserved great victories.

But these victories were shamelessly taken away from you. Such an injustice and dishonesty in the eyes of the world has rarely occurred in the history of football. Of course, I know that you are disappointed, the fans and the people of Azerbaijan are also disappointed. First of all, because you deserved this victory.

This last game against "Inter" on 11 December was decisive. You fought very well in this game. You were worthy of victory and achieved it. Right before the eyes of the whole world you scored a clean goal. But due to a lack of professionalism or prejudice of the referees, this goal was disallowed and thus your further journey was blocked. This is a huge injustice. It is very difficult to put up with this injustice – in life, in sports and in politics.

Unfortunately, injustice still manifests itself in various fields, including the world of politics. We, the young and independent Azerbaijani state, are also faced with injustices, double standards and discrimination sometimes. There are certain foreign circles that can’t digest our successful development, try to cast a shadow on our success, make consistent efforts to sully, denigrate and defame Azerbaijan. But these efforts do not yield any fruit. Azerbaijan is going its own way, the way of independence, freedom and development. No power can force us to turn away from this path. But such attempts are being made. There are double standards. Unfortunately, double standards have become common in world politics. We are going our own way. But our advantage is that there are no referees governing our relations with other countries or international organizations. We speak up in this fight and in most cases the victory is ours.

The realities of Azerbaijan are obvious today. Everything around us is on fire. In the region and Europe, there are economic, political and military crises, clashes, conflicts and bloody wars. Azerbaijan is an island of stability and a place of development. We have achieved this through the hard work of the Azerbaijani people. We will never deviate from this path.

In sport, unfortunately, unfair referring decisions may become crucial. As someone very much interested in sport and at the same time governing sport, I have repeatedly witnessed justice being manifested towards our athletes in international competitions, even in individual sports. I repeat: one can win and lose. It is sport and no-one is insured against defeat. If you had lost in a fair fight or hadn’t scored that goal, no-one would have said anything. It happens, and we would have hoped that you would do better next time. But to take away a clean and honest victory from a team is a great injustice and crime in the world of sports. So I think that the referees who committed this crime, this sporting crime should be punished.

Otherwise, it will not be understood.

I have invited you, first of all, because the game you have been showing in recent years pleases me and our people a lot.

On the other hand, I know that this moment is not very easy for the team. After all, all your thoughts were already associated with the next stage of the competition. You should have qualified for the next stage. This victory was shamelessly stolen from you. But life goes on. This injustice can’t break you. On the contrary, it should further encourage you and strengthen your desire to win, so that in the next competition you can prove to the European sporting family once again that football club "Qarabagh" can achieve great success and represent Azerbaijani football properly.

The name of the club is "Qarabagh", and this places additional responsibility on you. I am confident that in the coming years you will worthily bear this beautiful name, and football club "Qarabagh" will please the people of Azerbaijan with new victories. I wish you continued success. I hope you can prepare for the next competitions well. I know that the atmosphere in the club is good. The coaches, the club, the players – you are like one family. I welcome this. Let me once again express my gratitude to you for the achievements and results on behalf of the Azerbaijani people. I wish you new victories. Thank you.

- I am also aware that there was a great concern in Europe. In Europe, too, voices were raised against this injustice. I repeat that people can come to terms with many things – deprivation, poverty. But it is impossible to come to terms with injustice, especially if this injustice is happening in front of everyone. Of course, this caused a legitimate public outrage, and I am glad that solidarity was displayed by the European sporting community. I appreciate the moral support provided to us.

I want to emphasize one more thing. This event occurred in the last minute of the game. But as I was watching the game, I paid attention to one thing: the team behaved with so much dignity! It was not so easy to curb emotions and passions at the time. It was not an ordinary but a crucial game, and everyone saw quite clearly that a clean goal was scored.

Therefore, acting within ethical frames inherent in sport required a high level of culture. And you have shown this culture to the whole of Europe. Many teams would have behaved differently – both fans and players. But Azerbaijani fans and football team "Qarabagh" demonstrated high culture and dignity. This is above all. There will be wins and injustices will be eliminated. I am sure that justice will be restored and you will win at the next competition. But "Qarabagh" has already gone down in history as a worthy team. Respect for you and at the same time sympathy for Azerbaijan in the world and Europe will grow even more.

In general, we act decently in any field. This is the basic condition. In everyday life, in politics and in sports, dignity brings honor. And this has to be within man himself. At the same time, this should be part of the education. The great atmosphere existing in Azerbaijan today and the good social climate reinforce these positive trends. Our country is developing dynamically, is open to the world, is open to collaboration and decides its fate itself. Our country has lived as an independent state for 23 years and has proved to the world that it can live well as an independent state, holds and will hold its destiny in its own hands.

Sport is a public phenomenon in the world today. It is impossible to separate sport from public life. Economically strong countries are usually successful in sport too. Therefore, the creation of the sports infrastructure, of a good environment for the athletes and, in general, the adoption of the sport policy as a priority of today have created the present-day opportunities, thanks to which Azerbaijan is known in the world as a sporting nation. It is no coincidence that the first European Games will be held in Baku next year. Extensive preparations are under way. I am sure that our footballers should also actively participate in the preparations. In 2017, we will host the Islamic Solidarity Games. There is no and probably won’t be another country that will host both European and Islamic Solidarity Games. Azerbaijan enjoys a good reputation in Europe and great respect in the Muslim world.

Of course, by conducting Islamic Solidarity and European Games, we are further strengthening the dialogue between civilizations. Baku and Azerbaijan play a central role in this dialogue. In 2020, some games of the European Football Championship will also be held in Baku. As you know, 13 cities were selected and Baku is among them. Out of these 13 cities only four were selected to host quarterfinals. One of them is Baku. This is our present-day Azerbaijan, our beautiful city of Baku and our success.

To achieve this, of course, each of us, every citizen of Azerbaijan should work hard in their field and contribute to our common cause. We must strive to make our country even more prosperous and developing, enable our people to live better, have security and peace of mind, lived in comfort, and this will be the case.

I congratulate you on your victory again. I believe that you won both on 11 December and in the Europa League in general. I wish you continued success.

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In conclusion a picture was taken.