There’s apparently no end to Kazakhstan's sporting ambitions. While it waits for the International Olympic Committee to decide if it can host the 2022 Winter Games, the oil-rich Central Asian country – not exactly a soccer star – has declared its desire to host the Football World Cup finals in 2026.
“We want to hold the Winter Olympics in 2022, and then it's in the plan to compete for the World Cup in 2026,” Yerlan Kozhagapanov, president of the Kazakhstan Football Federation, told Russia's Sport Express newspaper this week. Our economy is growing rapidly, the country is developing, so why not?”
Kazakhstan – which ranks 138 in the FIFA World Ranking – is far from a soccer superpower. The country has has never qualified for the final stages of a major international tournament and is currently languishing last place in its qualification group for the Euro 2016 championships; it has earned just one point in five matches.
But Kozhagapanov hopes that with a bit of investment, this is all about to change: “We are now starting a program to develop football in Kazakhstan from 2015 to 2022, and establishing a coaching school is one of five priorities.”
In Kazakhstan there is one coach for every 347 children. This compares with one to eight in Germany and one to three in England. Other priorities include developing training infrastructure and combating match-fixing.
Hopes to host the finals might not be so far-fetched. Another hydrocarbon-rich country with little footballing history, Qatar – currently ranked 109 out of 209 globally – successfully bid for the 2022 World Cup. But with Kazakhstan’s oil revenues plunging, finding cash for the huge investment in new stadiums might be a problem (the country would need at least 12). At present only the 30,000-seat Astana Arena would be a suitable venue.
This ambitious proposal would need a powerful backer with influence and a grip on government finances for any bid to succeed. Fortunately, President Nursultan Nazarbayev is not just a soccer fan, he’s honorary president of Kazakhstan's Football Federation.
Paul Bartlett is a journalist based in Almaty.
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