Azerbaijan centenary celebrated at grassroot level

The 100th anniversary of Azerbaijani football will be marked by the Open Fun Football Schools (OFFS) project which is dedicating all of its activities in the Caucasian country in 2011 to the centenary.

The decision was taken at a meeting in Baku in February attended by Valery Cholariya, the OFFS regional coordinator in Georgia; Rauf Aliyev, vice-president of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) and head of OFFS Azerbaijan; along with AFFA secretary general Elkhan Mammadov and OFFS Azerbaijan coordinator Karim Agayev.

The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss and agree on the logistics for a series of seminars planned to coincide with the 12 upcoming OFFS schools in Azerbaijan. The AFFA offered its full organisational and practical support to the project.

Open Fun Football Schools are grassroots football schools for boys and girls – community-based in nature and lasting five days – which represent a main branch of the work of the humanitarian body, the Cross Cultures Project Association (CCPA).

This year refugees from various Azerbaijani regions have been invited to take part in the schools, while the OFFS has also arranged a series of children's festivals. In view of next year's FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan, particular attention will be paid to engaging girls in order to give extra impetus to the development of women's football in the country.