KFF President and Kazakhstani head coach press conference held

29 April 2024, 22:34

A press conference with the participation of the KFF President Adlet Barmenkulov and the head coach of the Kazakhstan national football team Magomed Adiev was held in Astana.

The head of the federation highlighted important details that clearly show the growing interest of Kazakhstanis in football. Adlet Barmenkulov noted that more than 1,250,000 children and 2,400 specially trained for grassroots coaches are currently engaged in football in Kazkhstan.

“The economic potential is about a billion dollars. Currently, a large number of invited experts are working in Kazakhstan, and all costs are borne exclusively by KFF. No funds are spent on this from the state budget. As for the budget of the country’s main football organization, it consists entirely of the resources of UEFA, FIFA and funds allocated by business companies,” Adlet Barmenkulov said.

- The Kazakhstan national team will play its next UEFA Nations League matches in autumn, and the Central Stadium in Almaty may lose the UEFA Category 4. Where will the matches take place, regarding the fact that the Astana Arena is under reconstruction?

- There is no decision yet. The UEFA Commission conducted an inspection at the Central Stadium in Almaty, the result will be known in two or three weeks - whether the arena complies with the Category 4. We are also waiting for a decision on holding the World Nomad Games at the Astana Arena. In addition, we are ready to provide the arena free of charge in order to speed up this process. We do not exclude the option of holding the match at a neutral arena.

– This year a lot of criticism has been directed towards the work of the QFL. It's all about the low quality of TV broadcasts. What do you think about this?

– Broadcasting matches is a complex process. It all depends not only on the purchased equipment, but also on the stadium infrastructure. You can clearly see in what stadiums and under what conditions our clubs play. This year we gave concessions to clubs. This is the last year when they have to sort all these issues out. If by next year there are 6-8 clubs remaining in order, then we will play with 6-8 clubs in the championship. Unfortunately, we had some cases whey they cut cables and turned off electricity. This was a crime in front of millions of fans. Today we are determined and are working very closely on these issues. We have prepared all materials for law enforcement agencies.

– FC Akhmat has already announced that they want to extend cooperation with Magomed Adiev if the results of the work are positive. What will be the decision on the extension?

– The fact that the club’s management approached me is not a secret. This was during Magomed Musaevich’s vacation, until June 1, and he himself decides where to be. We had an agreement. This is the right thing to do on their part. In his homeland, Magomed Musaevich made the right choice, deciding to help his native club during his vacation from the KFF. We are studying in detail the issue of further combination. Everything should be mutually beneficial. If the analysis shows that this is bad for the national team, then there will be other decisions. You are right that in general there is a problem with alignment.

– Recently a presentation of a new stadium for the national team was presented in Kyrgyzstan. Watching the presentations of new stadiums in Kazakhstan, it seems that they were made by schoolchildren. Is the KFF holding negotiations with construction companies that can build a quality stadium in Kazakhstan?

– I want to emphasize that no matter what companies come, they will build the stadium according to UEFA standards. As soon as one or another region announces the construction of a stadium, contractors naturally come and start showing sketches that are far from reality. This year we have taken an additional initiative: according to the Sports Law, no infrastructure facility can be built without the approval of an accredited national federation. As soon as we received information that they were starting to build in Shymkent or Aktobe, we sent a request to UEFA, we went there for consultations and negotiated. Today, UEFA is ready to provide specialists who will come and advise us; moreover, throughout the entire construction they will conduct technical supervision over compliance with the requirements.

The Kazakhstani head coach Magomed Adiev spoke about his work both in the club and the national team, and rejuvenating the team.

- You have recently headed FC Akhmat. The coaching staff of the Kazakhstan national team is also working with you. Will the national team be replenished with specialists who will conduct examinations and look for future team players?

- The work of the coaching staff does not stop. Definitely, we will not be able to attend some matches. But we have all the information about each tour. We are keeping in touch with some coaches and the national team department is providing additional information. I must finish my work at the club by May 25th. Then we will return to Kazakhstan and will start the work with the national team.

- The football club has already announced their intention to continue cooperation with you. What will be your decision in this regard?

- As the KFF president said, there was an agreement between the leadership of the federation and the club. Now I have a lot of experience as a coach. Previously, I couldn’t find a place to stay during the break between the national team’s games. Then I realized that I needed a challenge. I needed to work more and harder. However, as I said there was an agreement and we will return to the national team on June 1 and will start our preparation for friendly matches. My contract is concluded until December 1, and I also want to work with the national team. We will discuss this personally with the President.

- Would you tell us about the rejuvenation of the national team, the invitation of new players.

- In this regard, we are working according to plan. In the last two matches, as important as they were, we gave chances to the reserved players. We want to meet the demands of modern football and play fast football. I have already told the KFF president how I see the future as a coach. This year is important for our team. We must take all friendly matches and Nations League matches as preparation for the 2026 World Cup. We need to play fast football and bring in players from the youth team.

- We are watching with great interest all matches under your leadership. I agree that the coach, like the players, wants to be fit and constantly have practice. Every week you prepare your players for a variety of opponents. Does this help you expand your coaching vision, and may this factor help the national team?

- I sometimes said at press conferences that in some games we were not mentally prepared - the opponent, pressure from fans, the players were inferior psychologically. But I never said that I, as a coach, gave in mentally. When we went out to play against Slovenia in the first round of the qualifying round, I should have gotten used to everything and nothing in particular would surprise me, but the downtime I had between the game in the Nations League against Azerbaijan and the match with Slovenia took four month. When I entered the field, for the first ten minutes I felt out of place, I told myself: “switch off, focus on the game.” But, you see, something still clicked in my head, and at that moment I realized that I had a long break and I needed to work more.