The reputation of the president of the ‘Kazakhstan Football Federation’ (KFF), Adilet Barmenkulov, has long aroused widespread suspicion. In addition to constant criticism from football fans regarding the organisation and transparency of matches, Barmenkulov has also been repeatedly involved in corruption scandals.
Certain questions are raised by the activities of the Karaganda football club (FC) ‘Shakhter’, whose board of directors is chaired by Adilet Barmenkulov.
In July, the Kazakhstan Football Federation won a tender worth more than 9 million tenge for training coaches of FC Shakhter. At the time, the media expressed bewilderment that the KFF not only participates in such procurements but also wins them, suggesting that the contract with Shakhter might be merely a way to make some extra money for the football federation.
Further proof of this came in August with the publication of an analytical report on the results of an external analysis of corruption risks in the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Karaganda Region, prepared by experts from Anticor.
According to the report, in 2021, the football club Shakhter spent 16 million tenge on psychological support for the coaching staff by the company ‘ANTEQ Industrial Management Group’, whose founder is the same Barmenkulov.
In early September, the Telegram channel Yedilov Online published an explanatory note to the draft budget of the Kazakhstan Football Federation for 2023, which stated that the expenditure of the KFF amounted to 9.2 billion tenge, of which only 616 million was allocated for organising national team matches.
Journalists believe that the relevant authorities should check the efficiency of the budget expenditure of the football federation controlled by Barmenkulov, as well as the spending of the football club Shakhter, with which the KFF president is directly involved.
The activities of Adilet Barmenkulov in his role as president of the Kazakhstan Football Federation raise certain doubts not only among football fans and the media, but also among the authorities.
Earlier we wrote about the disappointing results of the Kazakhstan national team following the recent UEFA Nations League matches. As a reminder, the ‘Kazakhstan – Norway’ match ended in a draw, and the Kazakhstan national team lost to Slovenia with a score of 3:0.
Furthermore, the organisation of the match with Norway turned into an appalling disgrace and outrage for our country. Fans with tickets in hand were simply not allowed into the stadium. Incidentally, a similar situation occurred earlier during the April match ‘Kairat’ - ‘Aktobe’.
Adilet Barmenkulov, for his part, expressed his opinion on social media about who and what caused the disorganisation of the ‘Kazakhstan – Norway’ match. The list of those ‘to blame’ included stadium staff, law enforcement agencies, Freedom Ticketon, and even the akimat.
Returning to Barmenkulov’s transgressions, it is worth recalling that in July it became known that two of the top football clubs filed a complaint against him with the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.
In addition, the KFF was suspected of lobbying for the interests of one of the numerous bookmakers. Some time later, UEFA launched an investigation into Barmenkulov, suspecting him of organising match-fixing.
It seems that Adilet Barmenkulov realises that all his misdeeds as president of the Kazakhstan Football Federation could lead to adverse consequences.
Recently, on social media, under the pretext of gratitude for the bright prospects of Kazakh football, he openly began to flatter the head of state, probably hoping for continued favour.
But despite all Barmenkulov’s attempts to justify himself in the eyes of the government and the public, the facts speak for themselves.
One can only hope that the candidacy of the KFF president will be reconsidered, because with the proper allocation of resources and genuine commitment, Kazakh football does indeed have positive prospects.