The regional communications service of the Atyrau region has reported the return of the Atyrau football club to state ownership.
According to the department's press service, since February 2018 the FC had been under the trust management of the Atyrau Professional Sports Club Public Foundation.
"Over these years, systemic problems were observed in its operations, such as frequent changes of founders and management, a lack of stable sporting results, and insufficient transparency in financial and economic activities", the statement reads.
Due to the increased number of foreign players, lack of budget transparency, and reliable reporting, the authorised bodies decided to return the club to state management.
The regional Department of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism believes that this will strengthen control over the targeted use of funds and provide an opportunity to develop the region's football infrastructure and human resources.
"A phased reform of the club is planned in the near future, with particular attention on ensuring transparency of operations, stable management, the development of youth and children's football, as well as the formulation of a sustainable strategy for sporting growth", the statement reads.
It will be recalled that earlier, football players, coaches and staff of FC Atyrau threatened to boycott the match against FC Aktobe, scheduled for 30 March, if their salaries, delayed by three months, were not paid.
It was reported that the club's employees were in a difficult financial situation: they were unable to pay loans and provide for their families. The workers blamed the head of the sports department, Nurbol Sudykov, who allegedly did not allocate funding to the club from the regional budget.
At the time, the Department of Physical Culture and Sports explained that the reason for the suspension of funding was numerous violations in the club's operations, identified by the regional prosecutor's office. Incidentally, the players of FC Atyrau did go ahead with the match against FC Aktobe, but lost the encounter with a score of 0:4.