# 2011–12 in Azerbaijani football

The 2011–12 season was the 20th season of competitive football in Azerbaijan.
The season began on 6 August 2011 for Premier League and 10 September for the First Division. The first round of the Premier League ended on 7 March 2012, with the Championship and Relegation groups having their first games on 11 March. The Championship group ended on 11 May 2013 and the Relegation group on 12 May 2013, the same day as the First Division ended.

## Season events
### Inter Baku scandal

On 21 August 2011, Inter Baku - FK Baku game was suspended during last minutes due referee scandal, therefore game's fate decided after Professional Football League of Azerbaijan's decision. On 23 August 2011, PFL awarded 3-0 technical victory to FK Baku and announced the following punishments were given to Inter Baku's individuals:
* Georgi Nikolov, club's chairman: 5 game ban from football and fined 5,000 AZN.
* Kakhaber Tskhadadze: fined 1,000 AZN.
* Giorgi Lomaia: 2 game ban and fined 2,000 AZN.
Furthermore, Inter Baku fined additional 13,000 AZN for breaching security regulations.

### Khazar Lankaran and Turan controversy

On 6 August 2011, the Disciplinary Committee of AFFA imposed the punishment on the scandal that took place in two matches. Khazar Lankaran fined 10,000 AZN after club's fans threw alien objects to the court, injuring the head of Inter Baku's coach Kakhaber Tskhadadze. Khazar also must play its next two league home matches in an empty stadium because of its fans' aggressive behavior.
AFFA fined Turan Tovuz 26,000 AZN and moved its next two league home matches on a neutral ground for injuring referees, breaking PFL camera as well as for refusing to play at the second half of 2011–12 Azerbaijan Cup. The club's president Musa Suleymanov has been disqualified for five matches and club received technical defeat of 0–3.

## National Football Team
### Goal scorers

| Place | Position | Name | Friendlies | WC Qualifying | Total |
| 1 | FW | Rauf Aliyev | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 1 | DF | Mahir Şükürov | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | FW | Vagif Javadov | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | FW | Vüqar Nadirov | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | MF | Nizami Hajiyev | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | 6 | 5 | 11 |

## League tables
### Azerbaijan Premier League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Neftçi Baku | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 45 | 17 | +28 | 49 | Qualification for championship group |
| 2 | Inter Baku | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 10 | +11 | 45 | Qualification for championship group |
| 3 | Khazar Lankaran | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 33 | 19 | +14 | 44 | Qualification for championship group |
| 4 | Qarabağ | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 14 | +13 | 41 | Qualification for championship group |
| 5 | Baku | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 27 | 22 | +5 | 35 | Qualification for championship group |
| 6 | Gabala | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 35 | Qualification for championship group |
| 7 | AZAL | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 29 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 8 | Ravan Baku | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 23 | 29 | −6 | 25 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 9 | Kapaz | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 22 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 10 | Simurq | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 18 | 34 | −16 | 19 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 11 | Sumgayit | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 16 | 37 | −21 | 15 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 12 | Turan | 22 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 13 | 33 | −20 | 11 | Qualification for relegation group |

#### Championship group

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Neftçi Baku (C) | 32 | 20 | 3 | 9 | 55 | 30 | +25 | 63 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Khazar Lankaran | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 44 | 28 | +16 | 59 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Inter Baku | 32 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 56 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Qarabağ | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 37 | 28 | +9 | 53 | |
| 5 | Gabala | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 43 | 32 | +11 | 52 | |
| 6 | Baku | 32 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 50 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
* 1 2 Baku qualified for the first qualifiying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League as winner of the 2011–12 Azerbaijan Cup.

#### Relegation group

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | AZAL | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 44 | |
| 8 | Ravan Baku | 32 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 41 | |
| 9 | Simurq | 32 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 27 | 41 | −14 | 34 | |
| 10 | Kapaz | 32 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 35 | 55 | −20 | 32 | |
| 11 | Turan (R) | 32 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 25 | Qualification for relegation playoffs |
| 12 | Sumgayit (R) | 32 | 6 | 6 | 20 | 27 | 52 | −25 | 24 | Relegation to Azerbaijan First Division |

### Azerbaijan First Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Qaradağ (C) | 26 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 45 | 9 | +36 | 65 |
| 2 | Karvan | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 55 | 22 | +33 | 55 |
| 3 | Neftchala | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 42 | 16 | +26 | 55 |
| 4 | Şahdağ | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 45 |
| 5 | Bakili | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 38 |
| 6 | Lokomotiv-Bilajary | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 36 |
| 7 | FK MKT-Araz | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 35 | 43 | −8 | 36 |
| 8 | Şəmkir | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 33 |
| 9 | Tərəqqi | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 28 | 30 | −2 | 31 |
| 10 | Mughan | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 43 | −17 | 31 |
| 11 | Şuşa | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 23 | −2 | 29 |
| 12 | Energetik | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 21 | 45 | −24 | 25 |
| 13 | MOIK Baku | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 34 | 44 | −10 | 25 |
| 14 | Göyəzən | 26 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 17 | 74 | −57 | 7 |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| AZAL | Nazim Suleymanov | Resigned | 7 July 2011 | Pre-season | Elkhan Abdullayev | 12 July 2011 |
| Neftchi | Arif Asadov | Resigned | 29 July 2011 | Pre-season | Boyukagha Hajiyev | 2 August 2011 |
| Ravan Baku | Bahman Hasanov | Resigned | 20 September 2011 | 11th | Vladislav Kadyrov | 20 September 2011 |
| AZAL | Elkhan Abdullayev | Resigned | 31 October 2011 | 10th | Rafig Mirzayev | 1 November 2011 |
| Gabala | Tony Adams | Resigned | 16 November 2011 | 6th | Fatih Kavlak | 16 November 2011 |
| Kapaz | Mehman Allahverdiyev | Resigned | 21 November 2011 | 10th | Mirbaghir Isayev | 21 November 2011 |
| Khazar Lankaran | Mircea Rednic | Sacked | 4 December 2011 | 3rd | Cüneyt Biçer | 5 December 2011 |
| Kapaz | Mirbaghir Isayev | Resigned | 24 December 2011 | 10th | Fuad Ismayilov | 1 January 2012 |
| Ravan Baku | Vladislav Kadyrov | Sacked | 5 February 2012 | 8th | Bahman Hasanov | 6 February 2012 |
| Simurq | Sergey Yuran | Mutually terminated | 5 March 2012 | 10th | Igor Getman | 5 March 2012 |
| Simurq | Igor Getman | End of tenure as caretaker | 11 March 2012 | 10th | Giorgi Chikhradze | 11 March 2012 |
| FC Baku | Aleksandrs Starkovs | Mutually terminated | 11 March 2012 | 5th | Novruz Azimov | 11 March 2012 |
| Khazar Lankaran | Cüneyt Biçer | Sacked | 15 March 2012 | 4th | Yunis Hüseynov | 15 March 2012 |
| AZAL | Rafig Mirzayev | Mutually terminated | 2 April 2012 | 7th | Mais Azimov | 2 April 2012 |
| AZAL | Mais Azimov | End of tenure as caretaker | 6 April 2012 | 7th | Vagif Sadygov | 6 April 2012 |