Kazakhstan request supported
Thursday, December 13, 2001
Article summary
Kazakhstan have received the support of the UEFA Executive Committee in their bid to become a UEFA member.
Article body
Withdrew from AFC
The Football Association of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, withdrew from the Asian Football Confederation in June this year and should be confirmed as UEFA's 52nd member at the next UEFA Congress in Stockholm next spring.
Congress in Stockholm
At the end of a two-day meeting in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday, the committee announced its decision "to recommend acceptance of the request for affiliation from the Football Association of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the next UEFA Congress in Stockholm in April 2002".
Decision must be ratified
UEFA officials have visited Kazakhstan and produced a status report which was studied by the committee, although their decision remains to be ratified by the congress.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan is situated in central Asia and is the second largest of the former Soviet republics, covering 2,724,900 sq km. It borders five countries - China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia - and has a population of 14million.
Eliminated from World Cup
Kazakhstan were eliminated in the first round of the AFC's qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals. They missed out narrowly, on goal difference, having finished unbeaten and with an identical record to group winners Iraq.
Change in domestic game
The 2002 season will mark a major change in the Kazakh domestic game with the switch from one 17-team professional league to two divisions of 12 sides, called the Premier League and First League. Zhenis Astana, a team based in the Kazakh capital of Astana, were the country's 2001 champions.
