COMPETITIVE BALANCE IN THE AZERBAIJAN PREMIER LEAGUE AZERBAIJAN STATE ACADEMY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT

In terms of numbers of both spectators and players, football – or soccer as it is called mainly in North America – is probably one of the most popular sport games around the world. According to some figures of the international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), there are nearly 250 million football players and 1,3 billion fans interested in football all around the world in the 21st century [3]. Parts of its global success might come from the fact that football can be played almost everywhere from professional football pitches to streets, schools, parks, and playgrounds. Moreover, it follows simple rules and requires only modest equipment. Likewise, many people in Azerbaijan are interested in football. The Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) is the governing body of football and Azerbaijan has a national football championship, called Azerbaijan Premier League. Since 2016, eight clubs are competing in the league with Qarabag FK being the dominating team of the league during the last decade [11]. In general, such dominance might be a problem for spectators and fans. At the same time, it might hinder the development of other clubs in the country. Remarkably in this regard, the performance in UEFA’s international club competitions, i.e. the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, of all clubs beyond Qarabag FK is rather poor yet. This thesis will deal with the situation of competitive balance (CB) and its development over time in the Azerbaijan Premier League. Moreover, it will explore whether and to what extent a lack of balance might (at least to some extent) be one reason for the lack of success in the international club competitions. As such, the thesis intends to answer two research questions: 1) What is the situation as well as the development of CB over time in the Azerbaijan Premier League? 2) Is dominance in the Azerbaijan Premier League (at least to some extent) a problem for clubs playing internationally?