Kazakhstani series ‘Offside’ about corruption in football has been blocked on YouTube following criticism from a Majilis deputy. Producer and actor Rustem Omarov stated that both the project’s YouTube channel and its official page on Instagram were blocked. According to the creators, after the premiere of the first episode, the channel was attacked by bots, which led to the removal of content from the platform.
The conflict began with a speech by Majilis deputy Kudaibergen Beksultanov, who criticised modern Kazakhstani series for excessive use of foul language and called for measures to restrict such content.
Rustem Omarov was outraged by the deputy’s attacks. In a conversation with the publication ‘Ostorozhno Media’ he suggested that the real reason for the block was the plot of the first episode, in which footballers refuse to play a match advertising betting shops. In Omarov’s opinion, this greatly displeased major figures in that industry.
‘I realised that no one in this country poses as much of a threat as those who have an interest in keeping the situation in football as it is,’ said the series creator.
Problems of corruption in Kazakhstani football were widely covered even before the release of the ‘Offside’ series. It is worth recalling that in August, the FBRK published a large-scale investigation revealing systemic violations in this area.
In the first part of the material, the editorial team showed the scale of the problem: according to data from the international company Sportradar, Kazakhstan ranks 4th in the world for the number of suspicious matches. Meanwhile, over the last 10 years, not a single match has been officially recognised as fixed in the country.
In an interview with deputy Abzal Kuspan, he revealed the mechanism of using sports federations for corrupt schemes involving ministers and heads of law enforcement agencies. According to him, sport has become a convenient loophole for corruption, where billions are ‘laundered’ elegantly through fixed matches.
In the second part of the investigation, the editorial team analysed specific cases of championship purchases in the Kazakhstan Premier League (KPL) in recent years. In the third part of the material, we analysed the mechanism of resistance to reform by the corrupt system and showed how key figures of the old system retain their influence, turning the fight against corruption into a pretence.
Alongside the journalistic investigation, the topic was actively supported by Majilis deputy Abzal Kuspan. In September, he spoke at a plenary session of the Majilis with a statement on corruption in Kazakhstani football and sent a deputy’s inquiry to the Prosecutor General’s Office demanding a comprehensive investigation into fixed matches and financial fraud.
Kuspan cited statistics according to which 18 football clubs received over 200 billion tenge in budget funds over 6 years, while Kazakhstan sits at the very bottom of the world FIFA ranking. Former national team press secretary and representative of the Kazakhstan Football Federation (KFF) Yermukhamed Maulen openly stated that club directors personally approach referees and take part in fixed matches.
Despite the block, the ‘Offside’ project is not closed. The team has created a new YouTube channel, removed foul language from the series, and the content will now be available with censorship. Concurrently, Omarov announced the replication of DVD discs with the original uncensored version of the series.
The series ‘Offside’ is a sports drama about the behind-the-scenes world of Kazakhstani football, where corruption and fixed matches have become the norm. The main character is a coach whose professional life is threatened after refusing to participate in the club’s machinations.
As of today, the YouTube channel and Instagram account remain blocked. The situation raises questions about the real reasons for the block: is it genuinely linked to foul language, or to the series’ acute social theme tackling corruption in Kazakhstani sport?