Baku, June 2, AZERTAC

On June 2, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received members of the Azerbaijan national team, winners of the Minifootball World Cup held in Baku.

The head of state addressed the meeting.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- The Minifootball World Cup held in Baku concluded yesterday. The Azerbaijani national team, having shown professionalism and determination to win in all games, eventually claimed the title of World Champions. I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart on this occasion. First of all, I congratulate the team's players, coaches, specialists, the Minifootball Federation, and all those who have contributed to this victory. You have given the Azerbaijani people a massive joy of victory! Becoming world champion is a great honor and requires great skill, especially in a team sport. This in itself is a wonderful history. You are the ones who have written this history, and I am glad that we have such strong minifootball players in Azerbaijan.

Those who watched the championship were able to witness the absolute superiority of our players. I watched your last four games, and I can say with complete confidence that this victory is a victory won in a fair fight. You deserve this victory to the full extent. You have surpassed all your opponents on the football pitch and, at the same time, demonstrated a wonderful team spirit. I see that the players are very close to each other. You are like a family. Of course, this wonderful atmosphere, this environment in the team, is one of the key factors that determined your victory, and all the spectators clearly saw that. Those who watched the game both in the gymnastics arena and on television were truly delighted with your victory. Let me say again that you deserve this victory, and, in general, victories befit Azerbaijan. We are a country that wins on the battlefield, in the political sphere, and in sports arenas. It is our talented and professional youth who bring us this joy of victory. I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart. I wish you a continuation of these victories. Of course, it will not be easy to defend this title. The struggle was very intense, and, of course, the teams represented at the World Championship are the strongest teams in the world. However, I believe that you have great opportunities to delight our people in the future too and to keep Azerbaijan's sporting glory at a high level. I congratulate you once again and express my gratitude to you on behalf of the Azerbaijani people for giving our people this joy of victory. Thank you.

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President of the Azerbaijan Minifootball Federation Orkhan Mammadov said:

- Dear Mr. President, on behalf of the entire federation, on behalf of all our footballers, and on behalf of the coaching staff, I would like to express my deep gratitude to you for receiving us today. Indeed, today is both an honorable and successful day for us. We have become world champions on our home soil. This is a very important event for every footballer. I can tell you that the fans supported us in all our games. Our people supported us in front of the TV. Of course, the footballers also worked very hard and, like a family, put their souls and hearts into every game. The fans really encouraged them.

Dear Mr. President, of course, your support for sports, youth, and all football fans in general, was the main pillar of our success. Every footballer knows this, and we express our deep gratitude to you for that.

Your support for entrepreneurs is also evident. They invest in this type of football. We have a very strong championship. Sponsors are supporting it. Of course, we created the national team by gathering the strongest players from this championship. They became both European and world champions. When you received us last time, we promised you that we would work hard to win new titles and achieve more successes. It is a great honor for us to bring this World Cup to you today.

I express my deepest gratitude to you. We dedicate this victory to our people, to our Motherland, to you, and to esteemed Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva. Thank you, thank you very much indeed, Mr. President.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.

Head coach of the team Elshad Guliyev: Dear Mr. President, on my own behalf and on behalf of the team, I would like to thank you for inviting us here today. When we became European champions in 2022, you had a sincere conversation with us and gave us your valuable instructions. Ever since that day, we have been working hard to achieve new successes. Inshallah, fate has had it that we became world champions yesterday. We thank you very much for this and say to our people and our federation, “Thank you very much!” Thank you.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you, thank you very much.

President of the World Minifootball Federation Filip Juda said:

- Dear Mr. President, it is really my honor to be here with all these gentlemen who are representing Azerbaijan so greatly. I would like, in front of you, once again to congratulate them on this big success and also to thank you for bringing this event to Azerbaijan, to this country.

I'm here maybe for the eighth time in Baku, and my first time was in 2017 when I met these gentlemen from the Azerbaijan Minifootball Federation. And I must say that they really did a great job. They got the European title, the World title. And I wish you all success for the next editions. I know that your schedule is very busy. I saw you today at Baku Energy Week, which started today. So, thank you very much for having the opportunity to meet us and meet all these gentlemen. I hope that this success will also bring a new generation of minifootball. Because definitely, what you did here positively contributes to a new generation of minifootball and to people and common society in Azerbaijan.

I also hope—and as I know, the Azerbaijan Minifootball Federation is making a huge effort—to have a minifootball arena in Azerbaijan. I hope that, together with WMF and the local government, it will be a successful project, because definitely, what these people did—2022 European Champion, 2025 World Champion—you really deserve. And I'm proud that you are able to be here in front of Mr. President.

Thank you very much also for the invitation, and good luck to all of you.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Thank you very much for your kind words, and thank you for your support on behalf of the Federation for the development of minifootball in Azerbaijan. It's really very valuable, and we highly appreciate the cooperation that the Azerbaijani side has with international sporting institutions.

I am sure that this victory will give another impetus to the development of minifootball. The Azerbaijani national team has already won all possible titles – European champion, world champion. Of course, children, teenagers, the younger generation, and those rejoicing at this victory will show greater interest in minifootball, and the development of this sport will proceed rapidly in Azerbaijan.

All members of our national team are young people raised in Azerbaijan. This is also of particular importance. Our national team went through different stages of development, and today we meet at the stage of victory. Of course, there was a contribution from foreign specialists, and sometimes foreign players played here. But today, the Azerbaijani national team consists exclusively of young people born and raised in Azerbaijan, and this also evokes a special sense of pride. I am sure that you will continue to delight us with your victories. There are many competitions ahead of you in the future. As you know, sports facilities are now being built in the regions of Azerbaijan, construction is widespread, and the creation of minifootball pitches will be of great benefit both in Baku and in the regions. I am sure that the federation, together with public institutions and sponsors, will take further successful steps in this area.

I congratulate you again!

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President of the Azerbaijan Minifootball Federation Orkhan Mammadov then presented a keepsake to the head of state.