Azeri president, first lady attend opening of U-17 Women's World Cup
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva on Saturday attended the grand opening ceremony of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Baku.
President Aliyev and FIFA's President Joseph Blatter welcomed the players of the Azerbaijani and Colombian teams, which faced-off in the first match of the tournament.
World-famous US singer and actress Jennifer Lopez performed at the opening ceremony.
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the third such tournament, involves female soccer players aged under 17 from 16 countries.
According to the FIFA Executive Committee's decision passed on March 19, 2010, Azerbaijan was set to host the third championship, which will wrap up on October 13.
The first FIFA U-17 women's championship was held in New Zealand in 2008, while the second one -- in Trinidad and Tobago in 2010.
Azerbaijan for the first time is participating in the championship, which is the first FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Eurasia.
Teams from Japan, North Korea, China, Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, New Zealand, France, and Germany are in Azerbaijan to take part in the championship.
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!