“Who are the Secretary General of the Football Federation of Armenia Armen Minasyan or the Azeri Football Federation to provide security guarantees?” stated Secretary General of the Football Federation of Azerbaijan Fuad Asadov in a telephone conversation with an Armenian journalist. “Can you imagine what will take place if the national anthem of Armenia sounds in Baku and the Armenian flag is raised? At the moment Armenian troops control eight occupied territories. Skirmish is still available in the conflict zone. Let us suppose that I, as the Secretary General of the Football Federation of Azerbaijan, arrived in Yerevan. However, there are no guarantees that Dashnaktsutyun Party (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) members will not shoot me at the airport, even seeing the warm welcome of my Armenian friends. Who will be held responsible if it is the case? You want so much for the matches to be held in Yerevan
and Baku. Then let Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev discuss the issue at their coming meeting and make a decision on holding the match in Baku and Yerevan. In that case we will come to Yerevan without fail and we will receive you in Baku,” Asadov said, reported Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper.
Earlier Secretary General of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) Armen Minasyan stated the Armenian national team is ready to go to Azerbaijan and play a match. “Right after the drawing of the lots of the European Championship 2008 the FFA leaders assured their Azeri colleagues that the Armenian party is ready to provide for high security measures, properly meet the guests and organize the contest in compliance with all norms, regulations of the UEFA,” Minasyan said. “If similar guarantees are provided by Azerbaijan, Armenia’s national team is ready to be the first to visit Baku for a match,” he said. Minasyan also said that the FFA now does not consider the holding of the contest in a neutral field, as, in their opinion, there is no need in that. “If there are specific official proposals on the occasion, the FFA will discuss these without fail,” Minasyan added.
