Uzbekistan: Football Triumphs Expose Tashkent’s Flaws

In 2010, Uzbek Ravshan Irmatov became the first Central Asian to referee in the finals of the football World Cup. Recently, Uzbek teams have also done well in the pan-Asia AFC Cup and FIFA’s junior World Cup, but will glory last with the country’s record of internal corruption? (Photo: FIFA)

Officials in Uzbekistan are trying to reap some positive PR from the Central Asian nation’s recent successes on the football pitch. Yet, while the government lauds athletic achievements, critics say Tashkent’s top-down approach to sports exposes some of the country’s broader problems, including corruption.

The most recent Uzbek triumph came in October, when Nasaf Karshi, an obscure team from a remote province, won the AFC Cup 2011, a pan-Asian club tournament. In 2010, Uzbekistan's under-17 national team made it to the quarterfinals of the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. That performance boosted the U-17 Uzbek squad’s global ranking in the category to 31st from 77th. Another source of national pride was the selection of an Uzbek referee, Ravshan Irmatov, to officiate the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.

President Islam Karimov’s administration has tried to bask in the glow of Nasaf Karshi’s triumph. "The achievements of our country's athletes are convincingly promoting the strengthening of our young republic's reputation in the international arena," said an early November government statement.

Meanwhile, those directly responsible for the triumphs have found themselves lavished with state favors. After taking home the Asian Cup, Nasaf players reportedly received salary bonuses and free housing from the regional government of Karshi Province, where they are based. For their efforts, members of Uzbekistan's U-17 team are now exempt from university entrance exams and tuition fees. And posters of Irmatov in his referee outfit are visible all over, including in government offices.

Karimov appears intent on trying to institutionalize on-field success. Early last year, the Uzbek leader announced a 2011-2013 strategy obliging authorities to build new stadiums, open new football schools, and expand training opportunities for players and referees. A little later, Uzbek authorities and Spain’s prestigious Real Madrid football club agreed to open a Real Madrid football school in Tashkent. The agreement was reportedly achieved with the direct involvement of Gulnara Karimova, the president’s eldest daughter, who serves as ambassador to Spain. In the past, Karimova reportedly had frequent dealings with the former president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, according to the Spanish press.

Ask football fans on the streets of Tashkent what they think of the government’s efforts, and most are not optimistic. Many are quick to point to the fate of Bunyodkor, a top team in Uzbekistan’s top league, as emblematic of Uzbek football, and with the country in general. In early 2008, Tashkent-based Bunyodkor was at the height of its fame: bankrolled by Zeromax, a Swiss-registered conglomerate, the team boasted a big-name Brazilian coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, and Brazilian superstar Rivaldo as a player.

It all began falling apart in early 2010, when Zeromax ran into sudden troubles, and Uzbek authorities charged the company’s nominal owner, Miradil Djalalov, with tax evasion. Though Bunyodkor still ranks as a football powerhouse in Uzbekistan, its fans have long given up hope that, as one aficionado told EurasiaNet.org, “one day it would emerge as an important player in international arena, similar to FC Milan or FC Arsenal.”

Before Zeromax’s fall, wealthy private benefactors, some with dubious reputations, financed most of the country’s football teams, according to a Tashkent-based sports journalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The 2010 arrests of prominent businessmen, including Zeromax executives, caused the fortunes of many teams to decline abruptly. When the teams started struggling, attendance dropped.

"Few spectators now come to watch football games at our stadiums,” said the journalist. “Many good football players have left the country” because of low salaries. Corruption remains a major impediment to reviving fan interest in the sport, he added. Domestic leagues, the journalist noted, have been tarnished by allegations of some team owners’ involvement in match fixing.

Some seasoned Uzbek football players do not hide their frustration with the situation, in which only well-connected teams have a shot at the championship. Since 2002, only two teams – Bunyodkor and Paxtakor, both based in Tashkent – have won the Uzbek league championship. “When the winners of the first and second places are already known, why should the championship be of interest?" lamented Birodar Abduraimov, an established Uzbek coach with decades of experience, to Uzbek newspaper InterFutbol in August.

Discontent among fans has sometimes bubbled to the surface at games. According to the sports journalist, in recent months isolated clashes among fans have continued, taking local authorities by surprise and forcing them to enhance the security details assigned to matches.

In August, following a match in Guzar between Nasaf and the home-team, Shurtan, 3,000 fans reportedly took part in clashes around the town. Dozens were injured and it took police more than a day to restore order, local news agencies reported.