President of the Kazakhstan Football Federation (KFF) Adilet Barmenkulov has lost the trust of the UEFA leadership, and as a result the Union of European Football Associations is conducting an investigation into him, according to foreign media.
The media reports that UEFA is looking into why Barmenkulov failed to act despite being aware of instances of dishonest match conduct, and the extent of his personal interest in arranging fixed matches.
Recently, the website InsideTheGames published an article claiming that Barmenkulov posted a video on social media confirming that he was aware of corruption in Kazakh football.
According to the article's authors, in the video the head of the KFF does not deny that match-fixing took place before his appointment, but notes that this was in the past. Nevertheless, foreign journalists concluded that Barmenkulov is responsible for so-called 'inaction' regarding instances of corruption he was aware of.
Meanwhile, the public continues to express doubts about fair officiating in some football matches. Recall that the FBRK news desk previously reported that two leading football clubs had filed a complaint with the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) against the head of the Kazakhstan Football Federation.
In addition, it has emerged that the KFF is suspected of lobbying for the interests of one of the numerous bookmakers. According to media reports, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body initiated a review of Adilet Barmenkulov's activities precisely because he 'at the very least allowed corruption in the football under his purview'.
Foreign journalists cite quotes from Barmenkulov, referencing a video published on the Instagram pages of the KFF and Barmenkulov. However, the FBRK news desk noted that the video itself is a brief video report of a meeting between the KFF president and heads of premier league clubs, which contains none of the statements mentioned by the journalists.
Meanwhile, it has become known that at the end of June, the SPORT+ TV channel published an interview in which Adilet Barmenkulov spoke to the President of the Federation of Sports Journalists, Askat Zhakayev, about the work being done to eradicate corruption in the KFF's refereeing department.
The statements made by Barmenkulov in the SPORT+ TV channel interview do not match the quotes cited by InsideTheGames in their article. But they confirm that Barmenkulov was aware of corruption among referees in the Kazakhstan Football Federation.
It is quite possible that following the foreign publication's article, Barmenkulov and the KFF under his control rushed to make some adjustments to the publication to avoid public backlash and cast doubt on the veracity of the InsideTheGames material. But, as they say, 'the internet never forgets'.
One can only hope that UEFA's judicial bodies will conduct a thorough review of Barmenkulov's activities and the refereeing panel under his control, and assess how diligently the head of the KFF is fighting corruption, and what his role is in the business linked to the dark side of Kazakh football.