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Eldar Ä°smayÄ±lov: I became younger organizing tournament in memory of Banishevski

15 August 2007 10:02 (UTC +04:00)

Russiaâ€™s Nijegorodsk Azerbaijanis regional national Cultural Autonomy vice-president, chairman of Organizing Committee for Banishevski memorial tournament was interviewed by APA-Sport
- You must have though about extraordinary tournament when organizing tournament in memory of Banishevskiâ€¦
- In our days children dreaming of becoming genius footballer refer to Yashin, Streletsov, Banishevski, Bishovets, Blokhin. To tell the truth I dreamt of this tournament many years. I am happy now. All teams we invited came to â€œSevernyâ€ stadium. Veterans and youth as well as children attended the tournament. Our aim in holding this tournament is to draw young peopleâ€™s attention to prominent soviet footballers.
- Did you face difficulties in holding such tournament abroad?
- Of course we did. But we managed to achieve our goals. I would like to express my gratitude to the governor of Njegorodsk Valeri Shantsev. He welcomed our proposal and sent congratulations to participants. Banishevski contributed USSR football team very much in gaining 4th place in the world championship in 1966. We will never forget Banishevski contributions before soviet football.
- Did you have financial problems?
- I can say you that it is financially difficult to hold such a tournament. I am grateful to mall local Azerbaijanis representing Nijegorodsk Azerbaijanis Regional National Cultural Autonomy. They supported my initiative and covered all expenses. Doing it they proved their love for Banishevski.
- You needed much time to realize your dreamsâ€¦
- The idea came three years ago. We managed to do it now. It makes me happy. I was sportsman. I am Soviet and Russia judge. I was goalkeeper of Nijni Novgorod team. I remembered my young years walking in green stadium. I am much younger now after tournament. Regardless of the result of the tournament we contributed to the friendship between Azerbaijan and Russian nations./APA-Sport/