The team of sports journalists from Azerbaijan won the trophy of the international tournament, Chisinau Media Cup 2024, held at the stadium of the Moldovan Football Federation on May 19. Eight teams of sports journalists from seven countries were split into two groups – Germany, Georgia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova and Romania competed for the Media Cup. Moldova was represented by two teams: that of the Moldovan Sports Press Association and TVR Moldova television station.

Georgia defeated Israel 2-1 in the match for third place and in the final, Azerbaijan defeated Romania 7-4.    

THRILLING VICTORY "It was a very intense competition,” said Eldar Ismayilov, president of the Azerbaijan Sports Journalists Association (AIJA). “AIJA football team won all the games and became champions,” he added. “In the first game, we defeated the German team with a big score. Then we met Israel. Ukrainian journalists were the main members of this team. There were professional players among them. We ended with a score of 1-0. In the third game, we beat Moldova 4-2 and advanced to the semi-finals. At this stage, we faced our Georgian colleagues and won. In the final match, we secured a complete victory over Romania and brought the Media Cup to Baku."

HUGE SUPPORT The Azerbaijan Minifootball Federation sponsored AIJA FC covering travel expenses and organising effective training of journalist-football players. "The Association of Sports Journalists of Moldova organises the international Media Cup every year," said Ismayilov. “We participated in the same competition in 2014. We finished second at that time. Last year, we could not go to this competition because we could not find a sponsor," he noted.