UEFA sponsorship Azerbaijan relies on a new strategy

Status: 12.06.2021 12:17 p.m. Azerbaijan’s capital Baku is a venue for the European Football Championship. State-owned oil company SOCAR has been a UEFA sponsor since 2013, but recently it dropped out. It’s part of a new strategy. From Silvia Stöber, tagesschau.de Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, shows itself from its brilliant side: three group matches and the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship will be played in the national stadium, which was opened in 2015. The state-owned energy company SOCAR signed on as a sponsor eight years ago for 90 million euros. However, its logo has recently been missing from the UEFA website. When asked by German media such as “11Freunde”, the European Football Association only confirmed the departure of SOCAR. There are several reasons to part with the oil company: The involvement in sport should distract from the human rights violations of the leadership in Baku, which has critics of the authoritarian and corrupt government persecuted and imprisoned – is one charge, another: Propaganda against the enemy neighbor during the war in autumn, with SOCAR mainly sharing tweets from the Azerbaijani leadership.

06/11/2021

New business strategy

However, according to news on Azerbaijani websites, the initiative to break up did not come from UEFA. Accordingly, SOCAR decided to end the sponsorship. At the end of May, the financial news portal fins.az quoted the deputy head of the public relations and event organization department of SOCAR, Ibrahin Ahmedov, saying that the company had changed its business strategy. For those projects that no longer fit, the expenses would be reduced. This also includes the extension of the partnership with UEFA. The press organ “iki sahil” explained that SOCAR decided in 2019 to rethink its old business strategy. With the management consultancy McKinsey, a new one has been developed for the period up to 2035, which takes into account the transformation of the global economy, the fourth industrial revolution and the energy transition.

02/09/2020

Questions about the political benefit

In fact, the question arises how profitable the costly sponsorship as well as the Hosting sports and cultural events for Azerbaijan were. The country has become better known around the world since it hosted the “Eurovision Song Contest” in 2012 and sports events such as Formula 1 in Baku every year since 2016. But sports and cultural events were always associated with reports on authoritarian governance, corruption and the human rights situation. This was ensured by national and international actors from civil society, the media and politics.

06/12/2015

In Azerbaijan, hoped for political support for the forcible recapture of areas under the control of enemy neighbors Armenia was limited to a few countries such as its close ally Turkey. Whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will not only use the European Football Championship to play in the group game between Turkey and Wales in Baku. He will also be in that during the war in autumn conquered city of Shusha travel.

analysis 01/10/2020

Heralded the post-oil era

Apart from that, SOCAR’s withdrawal from sponsorship shows the adaptability of the leadership around President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father Gaidar in office in 2003. The often underestimated president succeeded in asserting himself against competitors and old power structures. To this end, he appointed his wife Mehriban Aliyeva as his deputy in 2017. She comes from a business family from Baku that has a corporate empire with Pasha Holding, but is considered more modern than the conventional oligarchs.

March 13, 2021

Modernization was the Aliyev’s response to severe crises that befell the country from 2014 onwards. At that time, oil prices fell massively for the first time. Azerbaijan experienced the first recession since 1995, the central bank had to devalue the national currency sharply. Despite the repression, the population’s displeasure over falling incomes was expressed in protests. In previous years, experts had warned of the dry up of energy sources on land. Extracting oil and gas from the Caspian Sea is more complex and expensive. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2018, Aliyev said: “When we saw a significant drop in oil prices, I said the post-oil era had already begun for us in Azerbaijan. We should forget about oil and gas.” He made the diversification of the economy the main objective. The main sources of income should be innovative technologies, entrepreneurship and agriculture.

Digital and green technologies

In fact, Aliyev filled senior posts with young technocrats. you de-bureaucratised and digitized the administration – to the delight of the citizens, who can now receive services from the state without bribery. Foreign companies should be able to invest more easily in special economic zones.

04/11/2018

Aliyev drew up ambitious plans for the areas recaptured during the war with the use and development of digital and green technologies. The British company Chapman Taylor received the contract for the town planning from Schuscha, who had previously carried out construction projects for Pasha Holding. Turkish companies, some with ties to Erdogan, take on infrastructure and mining projects.

Elite corruption remains

Experts and journalists point out that these contracts were awarded without tenders and transparency. This gives rise to the assumption that the fight against corruption is intended to spare the elite sector who want to develop sources of income apart from oil and gas with new branches of the economy. The fact that Azerbaijan is undergoing modernization, but not democratization, is also supported by the result of the parliamentary elections in 2020. To the disappointment of many of the younger generation, mostly old cadre members remained. Many new candidates from the ruling party were also not considered. The leadership used the strict restrictions at times during the corona pandemic to crack down on government critics. It remains to be seen whether the Azerbaijani leadership will withdraw from sponsorship entirely and whether other states with a similar background will also reconsider their commitment. For associations like UEFA, the question would then arise of how expensive events can be financed in the future.

02/11/2020

Sharing the passion of football fans and with the desire to convey and provide readers near and far the latest information of the tournament, Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper launches a special page about Euro 2020 in the following publications: On the newspaper Nguoi Lao Dong, the special page “Exciting with Euro 2020” will be officially launched from June 11 on pages 8 and 9, with many interesting contents such as: pre-match judgments and comments ; character of the day; Euro and Vietnamese fans…; The authors are football experts: Doan Minh Xuong, Nguyen Hong Pham, Nguyen Viet Thang, Doan Thi Kim Chi… Particularly, the section “Euro 2020 Letter” will be an interesting highlight of the page, by a collaborator of the Nguoi Newspaper. Labor recorded directly from the European turf. The Portuguese team decided to defend the European championship Photo: REUTERS On the Nguoi Lao Dong (nld.com.vn) online newspaper, the Euro 2020 website will continuously update information related to the 24 teams participating in the finals; information before, during and after each match, funny stories on the sidelines… The page is scientifically arranged, convenient to follow with regular categories such as: Euro News, Comments – Expert corner, The Star Euro Stars, Bets – Score… In order to create opportunities for readers who love football to make their judgments, Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper will organize a contest “Predicting match results”. Readers visit nld.com.vn to predict the fastest and most accurate score results for each match (the prediction portal for each match will close 30 minutes before the ball rolls). Corresponding to each account (based on full name, phone number, email, correct ID/CCCD number provided as a basis for awarding prizes), players are predicted once/match. The prize per game (500,000 VND) is only awarded to 1 reader who predicts the most accurate and fastest results. Particularly for the final match, the question has the “Predict the champion” and “Predict the top scorer”, the reward increases to 2 million VND/match. It is expected that Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper will also organize talk shows “Exciting with Euro” before each match, broadcast live on the newspaper’s electronic newspaper and social networking platforms for readers to follow. Guest commentators are football experts, celebrities… We invite you to read with Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper to enjoy the atmosphere of football festivals in Europe to receive many attractive prizes.

These teams will not suffer any penalties, and will still participate in the Champions League 2021/22 according to the position won in the domestic tournament. Previously, UEFA had filed a lawsuit with the Court in Switzerland, but the Ministry of Justice of this country stated that there was not enough basis to give a penalty to Real, Juve and Barca. The judges argued that UEFA was restricting creativity, eliminating competition and limiting audience choice. Ronaldo and his main lane teammates attend next season’s Champions League. Photo: Reuters. This announcement will not apply to the 9 clubs that have withdrawn from the plan to organize the Super League. UEFA still fines Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Tottenham, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid 5% of revenue in a season, respectively 15 million euros. In addition, these clubs will have to pay a fine of up to 100 million euros if they participate in an unauthorized tournament in the future. While the teams signed the pledge with UEFA, Real, Juve and Barca rejected all attempts to negotiate. President Florentino Perez affirmed that FIFA and UEFA do not have the right to issue any penalty. On the night of June 9 (Hanoi time), British media reported that Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool also had to pay a total of £22 million fine to the Premier League organizers for being in the Super founding group. League. This money is used to solve existing problems in the English Premier League, to support fans and the community, not to be divided among the remaining 14 clubs. If they continue to participate in another tournament that is not allowed by the Premier League organizers, the “Big Six” group must pay a fine of 25 million pounds and have 30 points deducted in the league. ‘Never forgive the guys behind the Super League’ After 6 English teams withdrew from the Super League, Sky Sports commentator Kaveh Solhekol continued to strongly criticize the owners behind the plan for this tournament.

Mr. Javier Tabas, Chairman of La Liga has seen positive things from the “premature death” and did not look at each other’s face of the chairman in the group separating 12 teams from the European Football Federation (UEFA). Mr. Javier Tebas said: “From the crisis due to the huge salary fund of big clubs has led to the Super League rebellion. But it died prematurely and created disagreement, severely belittling each other through the withdrawal of many clubs. However, the positive side of it is to help clubs see the problem, they have to be wary of spending, not over-buying, leading to the brink of crisis ”. Real President Perez seems to be down that the Super League is not right at the moment. Photo: Getty Super League died prematurely due to lack of support from English clubs (after the withdrawal of six clubs), there was no support from the German club. This “tells” big clubs to reduce spending in order not to lead to financial crisis. Mr. Tebas said that you have to look at the fact that when it comes to its infancy, it is already prematurely dead, stop making excuses. Big clubs should consider spending, shopping and payroll. Not just want to create a project is to create. The plan to hold a Super League tournament with 20 major clubs involved went bankrupt after just 48 hours it was announced. It is worth mentioning, these thorny criticism of the La Liga President came during UEFA’s online meeting on Wednesday. Mr. Tebas also said that from now on, UEFA should have a policy to create a legal framework for club spending and turn it into law. UEFA must control the spending, salary and transfer fees … of big clubs.

Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City and PSG are the four clubs that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League this season. The European Football Federation (UEFA) is considering eliminating Real Madrid from the semi-final against Chelsea, and prohibiting the Bernabeu team and Juventus club from joining the European Cup next season. Notably, except for PSG, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City all participated in the European Super League project that caused outrage around the world. However, Chelsea and Man City escaped UEFA’s sights by promptly withdrawing from the Super League. Meanwhile, as the leader of the Super League and not giving up on this project, Real Madrid and Juventus face a heavy penalty from UEFA. Real Madrid is the richest club in the history of the Champions League with 13 championships. PHOTO: GETTY According to Deportes Cuatro (Spain), the 13-time Champions League club, Real Madrid is facing a ban to attend the European Cup next season. The UEFA leaders are said to want to impose a similar ban on Juventus. The fate of these two clubs is expected to be determined during UEFA’s extraordinary meeting today (international time). Under his authority, UEFA can fully impose this penalty but there is a split between the UEFA heads of this. Some leaders want a dialogue with Real Madrid and Juventus. They are willing to forgive these two clubs if they know “turn to the shore”. Speaking on Wednesday (April 21), UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin revealed that there is a small chance that the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Chelsea in the middle of next week will not go as expected as UEFA is weighing reminded the penalty to eliminate Real Madrid from the tournament. UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin. PHOTO: GETTY Before that, the top 12 clubs in Europe including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham (Premier League), Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atletico Madrid (La Liga) and Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan (Serie A ) has issued a declaration to establish the Super League while also separating from all UEFA competitions. Super League met with opposition and indignation from around the world with many protests from fans. In the face of great pressure, the Big Six Premier League team could not stand the heat and pulled out of the project and apologized. Real Madrid President Florentino Perez and Juventus president, Andrea Agnelli, as the leaders of the Super League, have still declared that this tournament is not dead. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin told TV channel Slovania 24UR, “It is important that the season has begun. Broadcasters will charge us for damages if we don’t hold a Champions League semi-final. So there’s a pretty low chance that the semifinals won’t take place next week. But things might be a little different in the future. ” Real Madrid President Florentino Perez. PHOTO: GETTY On Wednesday, Florentino Perez said he didn’t want a UEFA president like Ceferin. In this regard, Mr. Ceferin replied, “Well, that’s what motivates me to stay here. He wants a president to obey whatever he says, who will listen to him and do whatever he wants. I do what I think is the best for European football and the world.

In the worst case scenario, the organization leading European football will ban both Real and Juve from the Champions League in the 2021/22 season. The final decision will be announced after the meeting ends. Real can win the La Liga title, but cannot get a Champions League ticket next season. Photo: Getty. While other teams have withdrawn from the plan to organize the Super League, Real and Juve still show their stubborn attitude, despite being allowed by UEFA to correct their mistakes. On the morning of April 22 (Hanoi time), President Flornetino Perez also confirmed that the Super League will not collapse, but only pause. “If you think the Super League has collapsed, you are mistaken. The plan is only suspended. 12 clubs cannot be changed by their own accord, because we have signed a contract before. I am not afraid of UEFA, nor are I afraid. FIFA “, journalist Fabrizio Romano quoted President Florentino Perez ‘remarks. Man Utd is also one of the teams that initiated the Super League project. Joel Glazer, owner of the Manchester football team, was also elected vice president of the tournament. However, “Red Devils” and 5 major Premier League clubs changed their minds and withdrew from the Super League on April 28. This move received applause from the UEFA president himself. ‘Never forgive the guys behind Super League’ After six English teams withdrew from the Super League, Sky Sports commentator Kaveh Solhekol continued to strongly criticize the owners behind the plans for this tournament.

The Man City star added: “The current format of the Champions League is working great. That is why it has become the most exciting club-level tournament in the world, for our players and for our fans. Gundogan thinks the new form of the Champions League is just as bad as the Super League. (Photo: Daily Mail) The new Champions League format will be applied from the 2024/2025 season. The number of teams participating in the tournament will increase from 32 to 36 and the group stage will change completely. There is no longer the division of 8 groups of 4 teams competing for 16 tickets to the knockout round, instead 36 teams will play in the group stage as a league. However, each team will only play 10 matches with 10 different opponents (5 home matches – 5 away matches) instead of playing against all competitors like in league format in the league. The top 8 teams after the group stage will go straight to the knockout round. The teams ranked from 9 to 24 will compete for the play-off in the second leg format to compete for tickets to the next round. Since the knockout round, the new Champions League format remains the same. However, increasing the number of teams and changing the format of the group stage will result in 100 more matches per season. The new format of the Champions League is considered confusing. Real Madrid president and Super League President Florentino Perez bluntly stated: “UEFA has built a new form of play, I cannot understand it and it is not generating enough income. .. We created the Super League to save football ”. Just a day after Florentino Perez made his powerful statement, Ilkay Gundogan’s Man City was the first team to leave the Super League and apologized to the fans. In the middle of next week, The Citizens will face PSG in the semifinals of the Champions League this season./.

President Ceferin of UEFA. Photo: Getty. On the evening of April 20 (Hanoi time), The Times bringing one of the clubs MU, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool may consider withdrawing from the Super League. Initially, the British “Bix Six” team was excited about the Super League project and agreed to participate as a co-founder. However, English teams, especially Liverpool and MU, faced fierce opposition from fans. Liverpool fans even burned shirts and raised banners to protest in front of Anfield. Fans of MU, Arsenal, and Tottenham also made drastic moves. Mundo Deportivo it is predicted that the first England team to withdraw from the Super League could be Man City or Chelsea. Super League is facing a stiff response from UEFA. On the afternoon of April 20, the World Football Federation (FIFA) spoke up to support UEFA. President Gianni Infantino stressed that the Super League wants to be separated from the football system. The head of FIFA declared that the teams have two options: to stay present, or to shake everything to go to the Super League. “There is no such thing as clubs on both sides,” Infantino said. Previously, UEFA threatened to remove the names of clubs from the domestic league and the playing fields under the organization’s management. The Premier League, La Liga and Serie A support UEFA’s plan. President Ceferin also warned players who played in the Super League are banned from EURO. In the opposite direction, only President Florentino Perez spoke up. The Super League head dismissed all criticism, and threatened the tournament. Perez said players should be assured because there will be no basis to ban them from attending the EURO or the World Cup.

The Super League was the slap on UEFA’s Champions League restructuring project on 36 teams. The most powerful football agency in Europe affirmed it would do everything to prevent this “rude project”. Old continental football heads are also believed to be furious at the advent of the Super League. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also part of the opposition, saying the Super League will “harm football” and is asking sports leaders to step in. The European Clubs Association (ECA) requested an emergency meeting over the weekend for the project, but none of the Super League founding groups attended. The participants were in fact only Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar and representatives of Bayern and PSG. Not stopping there, representatives of the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga all oppose this plan. England participated in the Super League the most when the Big 6 including MU, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham were all said to have agreed. Knowing this information, Gary Neville indignantly: “Everything is bullshit. I have been a MU fan for 40 years but I feel disgusting. I am most disgusted with MU and Liverpool. Gary Neville Liverpool, they are always proud of the slogan “You will never have to go alone”, which is the national team, the fan club. MU is a team with a history of 100 years from workers, but are they planning to give everything to an unbeatable tournament where they are not relegated? It’s a shame and we have to take back our power from the top clubs in this country, including mine. This is purely greed, they (the bosses) are club imposters. They have nothing to do with the football of this country. The fan community here is 100 years old, who live, love football and the club wholeheartedly. They need protection. I make a lot of money from football, I make a lot of money from football, I invest money in a football club. I am not against economic employment from football. But there need to be fair rules for a tournament, the right for a team like Leicester to win the league and go to the Champions League. MU is not even attending the Champions League. So are Arsenal and Tottenham. But do they want the privilege of taking part in top tournaments? A pathetic satire. Enough is enough, this greed needs to end. My responses are not based solely on feelings. I am very honest. Subtract 6 clubs from tomorrow, push them to the bottom of the chart and cut all their money. It takes strong action “. Agreeing with the old game, Sir Alex Ferguson responded: “Super League pulls back the 70-year history of European club football. As a player of Dunfermline provincial football in the 1960s and fourths. The way the Aberdeen manager won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, I understood that a team in Scotland attending the European Cup was like climbing Everest. Everton spent £ 500 million to build a new stadium with ambitions to attend the Champions League. Fans around the world love this tournament. When I was at MU, we reached the finals four times and those were always special nights. I am not sure if MU will participate in the Super League, but I am not part of the decision making.

The hottest topic in the world newspapers today (April 19) is that a group of strong European football clubs demanded a divorce from the European Football Federation (UEFA) to form a super tournament. new. The Big Six Premier League group consisting of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool along with major clubs in Spain and Italy such as Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan are starting to form a private tournament called the European Super League. This means, they will secede from the two most prestigious European leagues at the club level of the European Football Federation (UEFA), the Champions League and the Europa League. Meanwhile, two of Europe’s top five leagues currently Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1 are said to have refused to join the tournament. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will head the European Super League. PHOTO: GETTY UEFA immediately issued a statement to quell their ambitions. Specifically, UEFA warned that any club participating in the European Super League will be fined heavily and the players participating in the tournament will be banned from the national team. Despite that, this club group still runs a super project that can bring a lot of profit to them, even more than the Champions League. This tournament will be born by the members participating in the tournament. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez played a leading role in this shocking plot and was backed by giant US bank JP Morgan. The vice presidents who will run the tournament include Liverpool’s John W Henry, MU’s Joel Glazer, Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke and Juventus’ Anfrea Agnelli. Football fans in England have sided with UEFA, angry at the ideas and plans of clubs, especially the Big Six Premier League team that plays a huge role in the project. Account @ AnfieldRd96 wrote on Twitter, “The fans disagree with everything. I think we all agree that the idea of ​​the European Super League needs to be gone. ” Account @txmejakala added, “The European Super League is really the wrong league in this sport. We’ve seen billionaires get into football and they want nothing but power and control. They don’t care about the fans, they see the fans as a customer and they make fun of the fans ”. Arsenal club owner Stan Kroenke will be one of many vice presidents of the tournament that is being opposed around the world. PHOTO: GETTY Meanwhile, the @anna_woodberry account mentioned the direct cause of the problem, “The story of the European Super League will be framed as a battle between money and core principles. But in reality, it is a battle between money and money. A MU fan with an @markgoldbridge account wrote, “I absolutely hate the idea of ​​a super tournament like this. The fans need to stand up together and do what we can to oppose this tournament. The @SerbSB account added, “Imagine another fan group formed. If you think it is an emotional league now, the Super League will make you crave right now.

The Swedish Football Federation is aware of this problem three years ago. That is why the 39-year-old striker was not summoned to the national team in the 2018 World Cup. Ibrahimovic announced his retirement from international football, but just returned to Sweden in March.

Ibrahimovic is at risk of retiring if he is banned from playing long term. Photo: Reuters.

The World Football Federation (FIFA) and the European Football Federation (UEFA) are investigating this incident. Neither of these agencies allow any player who is playing football to be involved in betting. According to the Daily Mail, Ibrahimovic could face a three-year ban.

Aftonbladet It was also revealed that the AC Milan striker ‘s company is the fourth largest co-owner. According to its annual report, in 2019, this betting unit has earned an after-tax profit of up to £ 25.79 million.

In 2018, at the launch ceremony, as a co-owner and brand ambassador, Ibrahimovic said: “Throughout my career, I have been highly sought after by betting companies, but never before. accepted so far. This is a company with Swedish origin. The founders are my countrymen. They really want to make a difference. ”

The Swedish striker will turn 40 in October. That means if he is banned from playing for 3 years, the player is likely to retire. This season, Ibrahimovic played sublimation with 15 goals after 17 matches in Serie A for AC Milan. The San Siro team is also planning to extend his contract for another year.

Ibrahimovic was sent off Offensive words to the referee are believed to have caused Zlatan Ibrahimovic to be disqualified in Milan’s 3-1 win over home side Parma in the 30th round of Serie A.