THE AZERBAIJAN AND TOFIQ PARTY CITY

This is TOFIQ BAHRAMOV
born in 1925, died 26th March 1993.  He was a Soviet club footballer playing for Neftchi Baku and he became a referee after suffering a leg injury. He learned his trade in the local and national leagues and eventually sat on the FIFA Panel in 1964, making his mark at the 1966 World Cup, when he was an assistant referee at the World Cup Final at Wembley which, of course, England won.

In 1966 he ran the line in an opening qualification match and in the Final claimed that for the crucial goal (England's third) the ball had "bounced back" from the NET rather than the bar and that the ball therefore had crossed the line! We believe him and of course so does Roger Hunt who should have tucked the "rebound" away having done his usual sneaking into the goal area looking for a tap in.
A Sky Sports Monday Night investigation on January 4th 2016 revealed that the ball did cross the line......hmmmm!

In 1970 Tofiq lined in 3 World Cup matches including a semi-final and in 1972 he took charge of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup Final when Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves met!! COYS
On retiring from refereeing he became General Secretary of the Football Federation of Azerbaijan.

In Germany he has set a legacy in football which manifests itself as a crowd chant of  "Wembley-Tor" whenever there is a dodgy goal awarded or not!

Tonight the Qarabag FK club's 31,000 seater Stadium in Baku is the venue for the Europa League Final between Arsenal and Chelsea. It is the National Stadium of Azerbaijan, named after the officiating hero. There is a statue erected to his memory. It was built after the War by German prisoners of war by 1951 and named the Joseph Stalin Stadium. In 1993 the named was changed for "political reasons" to the Vladimir Lenin and most recently, in 1993, it was named after their most famous referee, Tofiq. Here's Geoff celebrating the life of his favourite official.

So it is good to see two English teams in the Final, with one or two English players and coaching staff on board!

Baku, means "wind pounded city" and therefore is known as the "City of the Winds", is in the Caucasus Range, near the Caspian Sea, sited at 28 feet below sea level. the "lowest" lying capital city and the largest populated city lying below sea level in the world. Two distinct winds are common in over Baku; the cold, rough Khazri and the mild, gentle Gilavar.

Reports this week have told us that it is a beautiful and well appointed city, clearly proud to be hosting this final and it is going to be used in Euro 2020 as well as other celebrations such as Eurovision Song contest. It has recently been voted the 8th out of the 10 best Party Cities in the World.