Baku. 5 January. REPORT.AZ/ The Europa League Museum was launched in Baku in the last days of 2018. Built as a part of preparations for the final match in Europa League due at the Baku Olympic Stadium on May 29, the museum grasped the attention of the football fans.
Report’s employee witnessed it while familiarizing with the museum.
To enter the museum, one needs to pass inspection and get registered. The museum features the exhibit items reflecting the history of the Europa League, including the signed jerseys of the footballers who played in Europa League in 2008-2018 and the signed balls used in the final matches of the tournament.
Beside foreign teams, the museum also exhibits the uniforms of Azerbaijani clubs – Neftchi, Qarabag and Gabala.The uniform of Karvan club is also there. Though the club from Yevlakh is not operating now, it is the first Azerbaijani club that qualified for the UEFA Cup. Catching eye is the uniform that English fans presented to well-known Azerbaijani referee Tofig Bahramov.
Among the exhibits demonstrated in the museum are the flags of Turkish Beshiktash, Galatasaray, Fenerbace, as well as several European clubs. The visitors of the exhibition mainly take photos with the uniforms of clubs, of which they are fans. Of course, famous footballers are more interesting. Those players are the world champions. For example, Miroslav Klose’s photos with the uniform of Lazio, Italian Alessandro Del Piero’s with the uniform of Juventus and Francesco Totti’s with the uniform of Roma club. There are also a number of monitors in the museum displaying some interesting moments and goals scored in the Europa League matches.
The fans said that they visited the museum because of the clubs they respect and the museum left a positive impression on them. The visitors can also get some interesting information about the Europa league, the team and players who scored the highest number of goals.
Director of the museum Farida Lutfaliyeva said that 37 exhibits are being demonstrated in the museum: "More than 1,000 visitors come here every day. The volunteers willing to participate in the Europa League final can also register in the museum. More than 1,500 volunteers - a record high in the history of the tournament - have been registered so far."
Lutfaliyeva said that the museum was most visited during holidays and non-working days: "Everyone wants to pose for a photo with the signed jersey of their beloved teams. We try to answer any question in here. The museum also demonstrated visual means serving promotion of football in the country. The signed jersey of Azerbaijan’s team Karvan, which qualified in the UEFA Cup, is demonstrated in the museum. The visitors show interest in the uniform presented to Tofig Bahramov. That uniform is interesting for me too. Because I’m a referee. There are many words to say about world-known Tofig Bahramov."
There were also many people on the signature day of forward of Neftchi and Azerbaijan’s national team Mirabdulla Abbasov. People ask for the signature of the best footballer of 2018 and take a photo with him.
The Europa League Museum will be open from 3:00 pm to 10 pm until January 7.
Photo: Firi Salim