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The Eurovision Song Contest has introduced new rules to combat bribery after supporters of Azerbaijan’s entry were accused of buying votes at this year’s event, The Independent writes.

Thus, from next year, the names of each country's jury will be revealed ahead of the competition in an effort to increase openness and accountability, the article notes reminding that previously, the identity of jury members was not disclosed until after the final.

“For the first time, individual juror scores will also be published immediately after the final,” The Independent writes.

Besides that, as noted in the article, music industry professionals can now only take a seat on the jury if they have not participated during the previous two editions of the contest. The Independent reminds that last week, Croatia announced it would be withdrawing from next year's contest along with Andorra, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco and Slovakia.

Speaking of the investigation of the facts Azerbaijan offered money to other countries’ jury members in exchange for points, who as a result which came second.

Jon Ola Sand, the executive supervisor of the contest, said that tighter rules and increased openness are important for the Eurovision Song Contest to build on its success. “We want to make sure participants, viewers and fans know that we have done, and will always do, our utmost to secure a fair result,” he said and added that the results of their investigation connected with Azerbaijan would take time, as they were “doing this very thoroughly”.

A scandal related to voting-results broke out during “Eurovision 2013.” The head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan claimed that Azerbaijani votes meant for the Russian representative Dina Garipova were not counted. The European Broadcasting Union representatives noted in their own turn that organizers of “Eurovision” officially deny the “loss” of votes given to Russia. A scandal related to vote-rigging in favor of Azerbaijan broke out during “Eurovision 2013.” Lithuanian website “15min.lt” held a journalistic investigation revealing that a group of individuals in Lithuania and other countries massively “bought” votes in favor of Azerbaijan on the day of the Contest. European Broadcasting Union is interested in the given information.Last week the EBU launched a broad investigation concerning the possible bribery in "Eurovision" on the part of Azerbaijan.