Look up the Southern Gas Corridor. Ilham Aliyev has been dictator there since 2003. He jails and murders political enemies and dissidents. His family and supporters have palaces all over the country.
Like Putin, with whom he is a key ally, he has leveraged his country’s natural gas reserves and Europe's complete dependence on it to essentially get whatever he wants on an international scale. Like Putin was allowed to hold a Winter Olympics on the corpses of tens of thousands of Chechens, Aliyev was handed that Euro final game. These events lend credibility to these thugs. I believe Aliyev is also on the International Olympic Committee and that Azerbaijan was at one point a member of the UN Human Rights Council. It’s all disgusting and sad.
Thanks. I think I was more surprised because I didn’t realize that former Soviet countries were even part of UEFA. Little did I know, until now, that the Champions League final was in Kiev last year.