ECA News
On 28 November, ECA Membership Services Manager Olivier Jarosz met with representatives of top Kazakh clubs on the occasion of a two-day visit in Kazakhstan.
This ECA Meeting was an occasion for Kazakh clubs to exchange their views on the UEL qualification phase and the UCL/UEL solidarity payments for qualification rounds, with the hope to follow the path set by FK Shakhter Karaganda, the first Kazakh club to play in the group stage of a European club competition.
Kazakhstan has a fast growing economy, however investments in football remain low and little is done with regard to infrastructure. This has a negative influence on attendance and on the level of play. Additionally, most of the clubs in the league are still heavily dependent on local government subsidies, being state-funded through "social projects", and dealing with a yearly-based budget.
Similarly to ECA Regional Meetings, these country-specific visits allow ECA to better understand particular problems and issues that are unique to the domestic leagues. They also enable ECA to have a more effective incidence for clubs both on the domestic and the European level.