Four teams from Azerbaijan had qualified for UEFA club tournaments for the 2026-2027 season: "Sabah" for the Champions League, "Qarabağ" for the Europa League, and "Turan Tovuz" and "Neftçi" for the Conference League.
According to information released on June 3, the UEFA Disciplinary Committee has disqualified "Turan Tovuz" from the season, justifying this by the disqualification of 7 players from the team from football due to match-fixing in the domestic championship in 2019.
Medianews.az reports that this decision means a renewal of Azerbaijan's representation in the Conference League. "Turan Tovuz" finished third in the Azerbaijani Premier League in the 2025-2026 season and had earned the right to start from the second qualifying round of the Conference League.
"Neftçi," which ended the national championship in fourth place, was supposed to start from the first qualifying round of the Conference League.
According to the regulations, now "Neftçi" will have to start the Conference League from the second qualifying round, and "Turan Tovuz" will be replaced by "Zirə," which finished fifth in the Azerbaijani Premier League in the 2025-2026 season. However, "Zirə" will have to start from the first qualifying round, not the second round, of the Conference League.
In the 2026-2027 season, 81 teams will be admitted to the Champions League, 45 to the Europa League, and 111 to the Conference League.
All three tournaments have four qualifying rounds. Teams eliminated in the first qualifying round of the Champions League will move to the Conference League; those eliminated in subsequent rounds will move to the Europa League. Teams eliminated in the Europa League qualifiers will move on to the Conference League.
According to regulations, in the 36-team league phase, the top 8 positions will advance to the round of 16, and the teams placed 9th to 24th will advance to the round of 32.
Toğrul Ali,
Medianews.az