"Sabah" club made a sensational post on its social network account.

Offsideplus.az presents the statement of the capital's representative:

After the last press conference of the head coach of "Sabah" FC, our club received many appeals. These appeals necessitated clarification of the situation regarding the behavior of Elvin Jamalov, who currently represents "Neftchi" FC and is the former captain of our club. In this regard, we consider it important to state the official position of our club.

According to the information we have, on the eve of the match between "Sabah" FC and "Neftchi" FC in the semi-final stage of the Azerbaijan Cup, Jamalov contacted one of our team's players twice and offered him to move to "Neftchi" FC at the end of the current season. During these conversations, he especially emphasized the interest of his club's head coach and the high assessment he gave of the player's game.

This proposal did not attract the attention of our football player, and he reacted coldly to the appeal. Nevertheless, Jamalov insisted on this proposal by contacting him again. This clearly shows that his actions were purposeful.

We would like to emphasize in particular that the current contract of the football player in question with "Sabah" FC is valid not only for the current, but also for the next season. Undoubtedly, Elvin Jamalov, who has been the captain of our team for a long time, is aware of this situation. This fact further increases the unacceptability of his actions.

We assess such behavior as a serious violation of professional ethics and the status and transfer rules of football players. At the same time, we consider this an example of unfair competition. The most striking point is that such attempts at communication occurred precisely after it became known that "Sabah" FC and "Neftchi" FC would meet in the semi-finals of the Azerbaijan Cup. Moreover, considering that the football player in question is one of the key players on our team, we view this as an attempt to distract the athlete and put pressure on him on the eve of crucial games.

If the interest in the player was truly professional, Neftchi FC would have contacted Sabah FC or the player's representatives officially. Instead, this process was carried out informally, through a former teammate and without taking into account official procedures. This raises serious doubts about the sincerity of the intention.

Sabah FC has already assessed Elvin Jamalov's actions as a violation of the rules and has sent an official appeal to AFFA. We fully support AFFA's efforts to prevent such negative situations in Azerbaijani football, including potential match-fixing.

In addition, Sabah FC contacted the Neftchi FC management before this statement. There is a relationship based on mutual respect between the two clubs. We hoped that the player would take responsibility and apologize for what happened and the matter would be resolved without public discussion. For this purpose, sufficient time was given before the statement was issued.

However, due to the lack of response, the club was forced to issue an official statement regarding this incident, which caused a resonance in the football community.

Sabah FC always advocates fair competition, transparent relations between clubs and respect for existing contracts. We believe that adhering to the principles of transparent and fair competition is a common goal of the entire football community.