Photo: The bizarre story behind Qarabag’s choreography against Chelsea

 Photo: The bizarre story behind Qarabag’s choreography against Chelsea

Chelsea beat Qarabag 4-0 in Azerbaijan yesterday on Match Day 5 in the Champions League.

But we aren’t going to focus on the scoreline, the pre-game choreography is what caught our eye.

Especially after Qarabag’s previous attempt against Atletico Madrid.

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The Qarabag fans were mocked in the Turkish press for their A4 sheet in plaster sliders display.

Sabah Newspaper reporter Mevlit Tezel described it as being the “the poorest, funniest and most pitiful choreography in the history of football.”

Fenerbahce fan group 1907 UNIFEB reached out to the club and offered to help them organise for the Chelsea game.

1907 UNIFEB members Emir Akkaya, Esat Coşkun, Berke Özboyacı, Nazmi Akça, Barış Sülün and Burak Hamzalı were welcomed by Qarabağ FC in Baku.

After meticulous hard work and planning they organised an impressive show.

A 1907 UNIFEB spokesperson said: “We’ve planned many choreographies to support Fenerbahçe. Thus, we have some experience on the subject. We were very surprised and ecstatic when we were called by Qarabağ FC. We knew these kinds of matters require cooperation; so, we let them know that we were going to do our best. It worked out well in the end and just showed how close the friendship between Turkey and Azerbaijan is. We would like to thank Qarabağ FC, who showed a great hospitality during our stay; and wish them luck in the Champions League.”

Murat Karaman, the Executive of Qarabağ Football Club, said: “Football in Azerbaijan becomes a new life style. We, as Qarabağ FC, try to contribute and create a tribune culture. The visual work that was done by some of our fans was heavily criticised by some. This time, we achieved a much higher standard with the help of 1907 UNIFEB We would like to thank 1907 UNIFEB and their members for the help.”

Fans painted tens of meters of banners and placed thousands of colourful cardboard pieces to seats.

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The result was pretty impressive.
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Azerbaijan and Turkey have very close ties, in fact the two countries often refer to each other as ‘two states, one nation’.
Azerbaijan and Turkey share the same Oghuz Turkish language of the wider Turkic family. The two states share close historic, linguistic, cultural and ethnic ties.