Archive | Sport RSS feed for this section

Contrasting Marathon Responses in Central Asia

27 Apr

There have been contrasting responses to the Boston marathon bombings in Central Asia. While Uzbekistan has decided to cancel its marathon, Kazakhstan has decided to press ahead with its event in Almaty on 28 April.

The Almaty marathon will begin with a minute of silence for the Boston victims. The charity marathon is being run for the second year running and it’s expected to attract around 5,000 participants.

Meanwhile in Uzbekistan, the organisers pulled the plug on its race because of unspecified security threats. The marathon was being overseen by organisations close to Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of President Islom Karimov.

Instead, a charity concert will be held – although at the time of writing it was not clear if Gulnara’s alter-ego, GooGoosha would be taking to the stage.

These two reactions show the contrasting natures of the Central Asian neighbours – Uzbekistan always plays up threats to its security and is spooked by terrorism, whereas Kazakhstan seems to be opting for the path of not giving in to terrorists.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan Cool on Links with Georgia, Azerbaijan Football League

17 Apr

Could Kazakhstan be on the verge of joining forces with Georgia and Azerbaijan to form a trans-Caspian football league?

If reports from NEWS.am, an Armenian source, are to be believed then the Georgian Football Federation is about to submit plans to the Union of European Football Unions (UEFA) for a super league combining the leagues of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. It appears that the Armenians are not invited.

The report ends with a denial from the Kazakhstan Football Federation, announcing that it has no plans to join such a league. This is probably a wise move as the travel for away matches would be huge. If, for instance, FC Dinamo Batumi were to face Almaty’s FC Kairat, they would be looking at an 8,600 km round trip. Not a very attractive prospect for either the players or the travelling supporters.

An added complication would be the fact that Kazakhstan’s top division plays its football from March to November, while Georgia and Azerbaijan play in the winter months from September to May.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan’s Rio Hopes Crash in Vienna

17 Oct

Kazakhstan’s extremely faint hopes of making it through the group stages to the Rio 2014 World Cup were finally extinguished last night as it crashed to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Austria.

Having drawn 0-0 with the Austrians last Friday in Astana to get its first point of the campaign on the board, Kazakhstan crumbled in the return fixture. In its opening four games Kazakhstan has conceded eight goals while scoring only one.

Only the Faroe Islands has a worse record with no points on the board, nine goals conceded but two scored.  Next up for the Kazakhs will be Germany in Astana in March, but realistically its hopes for more points will come in its clashes with the part-timers of the Faroe Islands in the battle for group C’s wooden spoon.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan: Beware of Flying the Flag

12 Oct

Kazakhstan will be hoping this evening to get their attempt to qualify for the Rio 2012 World Cup back on track as they entertain Austria in the Astana Arena. Having lost the opening two matches, Kazakhstan will be desperate to get some points on the board. Last October, when the Austrians were last in town, the Kazakhs pulled off a surprise 0-0 draw.

One thing Austrian supporters should be careful of is displaying their national flag as it is an offence in Kazakhstan to display the flags of other nations in public.

Kazakh fans should also be wary after a 23-year-old Atyrau resident was fined in excess of $2,000 for displaying the Kazakh flag on the bonnet of his car, as reported on Bnews.kz.

Under Kazakh law, the flag can only be placed in official places. The display on the car’s bonnet was felt to diminish the importance of the flag.

I just hope the authorities don’t discover the Kazakh flag bathtowel I was given as a birthday present a few years back. I’m sure my bathroom cannot be considered by any stretch of the imagination to be an official place!

Tags: , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan: Vino Bows Out

11 Oct

Kazakhstan’s star cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov has finally hung up his trouser clips as he brought his chequered pro-cycling career to a close with a win in the jubilee criterium race on the streets of his adopted home city of Monaco.

Vinokourov – known to his fans simply as Vino, had many highs and lows in his 14-year career as a pro-cyclist. He ended on a high note by taking gold in the Men’s Cycling Road Race in this year’s London Olympics, which he added to his silver medal from Sydney in 2004.

The lows included a scandal-hit Tour de France in 2007 when he was kicked out for failing a blood-doping test. This earned him a two-year ban from the sport. In 2011 he was embroiled in a scandal that saw him accused of bribing a fellow rider to let him win a race.

It is likely that Vino will now take up a position on the management side of the Astana pro-cycling team that was set up around him in 2006 by a consortium of Kazakh companies. Another option is politics in his native Kazakhstan – he was listed as a candidate for Nur Otan in January’s parliamentary vote.

However, the smart money’s on the high-life in Monaco and the buzz of the pro-cycling circuit rather than the somewhat less attractive lure of entering Astana’s turgid political scene.  If he does opt for Kazakhstan, then the cheating and corruption allegations will stand him in good stead for a life in politics.

His retirement comes at a time when  former Astana team mate, Lance Armstrong,  finally faces the music with the sheer weight of evidence provided by the United States anti-Doping Agency pointing to long-term,  systematic doping in Armstrong’s past before he joined Astana.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan: The Road to Rio

7 Sep

Astana is facing an invasion from the Green Army as Kazakhstan begins its attempt to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Rio this evening with the visit of Ireland to the Astana Arena.  With Ireland fresh from a disappointing performance in Euro 2012, Kazakhstan, on home turf, will be looking to start with a positive result.

The chances of Kazakhstan getting as far as Rio are extremely slim – it’s also up against Germany, Sweden, Austria and the Faroe Islands in group C. Its best hope is to finish above the Faroe Islands and maybe snatch a surprise or two against Ireland or Austria.

Bookies are offering 4/1 on a Kazakhstan victory or 5/2 on the draw for tonight’s match if you think tonight could be the night for a surprise.

Reuters has this comprehensive piece on football development in Kazakhstan if you want to find out more about what’s going on in the soccer world in Kazakhstan.

 

Tags: , , ,

Nobody From Kazakhstan Fights Back

3 Aug

Kazakhstan’s Tengri News website carried this excellent spoof of the Daliy Mail’s outburst of sour grapes over Alexander Vinokourov spoiling Mark Cavendish’s party on day one of the London Olympics.

Alga Kazakhstan!

31 Jul

Team KZ has got off to a flying start at the London Olympics, picking up two gold medals in the first two days of competition.

Veteran cyclist Alexander Vinokourov crowned his chequered career with a gold in the men’s cycling road race, and teenage weightlifter Zulfiya Chinshanlo took gold in the women’s 53 kg class.

Vinokourov sprinted to victory in the 250 km road race, disappointing the home crowd who had been hyped up to expect British success. After taking the road race gold, Vino will take part in the individual time trial, before retiring form the sport at the top. A post at the head of the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation awaits Kazakhstan’s Mr Cycling after he hangs up his trouser clips.

The UK’s Daily Mail was particularly irked by Vino’s victory, calling him, somewhat uncharitably, “an unpopular former blood doping cheat from Kazakhstan” and labelling him a “nobody from Kazakhstan” in its headline.

Mail on Sunday Sport front page - "Nowhere man!" #Olympics #tomorrowspaperstoday

It would seem to the curious world view of the Mail that cycling as a sport has only emerged in recent years, with Britain’s  success at previous Olympics and Bradley Wiggins winning this year’s Tour de France. But we should expect nothing less from the jumped-up little Englanders of the Mail.

In the weightlifting 19-year old Zulfiya Chinshanlo,  probably powered by kazy, lifted more than twice her body weight of 53 kg in the clean and jerk – where she hefted 131 kg , followed by a 95 kg lift in the snatch.

Team KZ is already well on its way to its target of three gold medals from these games, and the boxing and wrestling haven’t really got going yet so Kazaxia is hoping for more Team KZ success.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan: Barys Astana Hockey Star’s Agent Speaks Out

17 Apr

The agent of Barys Astana captain, Kevin Dallman, has spoken out after the Astana defenceman hit the headlines in his natvie Canada last week with specualtion over his future role at Kazakhstan’s sole representative in the Continental Hockey League (KHL), Europe’s answer to the NHL.

Dallman’s agent said that his client’s contract is due to expire on 30 April and terms had been agreed for an extension, but the star’s wife, Stacy Dallman, is pregnant and the couple has not yet decided where to have the baby. This refutes allegations made in the Canadian press about why the Dallman’s had left Kazakhstan.

The Toronto Sun carried a story on 11 April that reported Stacy Dallman had been refused a Kazakhstan visa apparently because of a controversial blog she wrote about Kazakhstan, Adventures in Kaziland, while living in Kazakhstan. This post in particular seems to have got someone’s back up.

According to the agent, we will have to wait and see what happens after the ice hockey world championships in May when the final word on whether Dallman  will be playing in Kazakhstan next season will be given.

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Kazakhstan: Bloggers Beware as Hockey Star’s Wife Refused Visa

12 Apr

Stacy Dallman, wife of Barys Astana ice hockey team star Kevin Dallman, is reporting on her blog Adventures in Kaziland, that she has been refused a Kazakhstan visa after living in the country for four years.

Her blog took a look at life in Kazakhstan and didn’t flinch from criticising problems such as the endemic corruption in the country. After pressure from her husband’s agent, she was forced to remove a post from her blog in March 2012.

If you are wondering where the last post went…. well….Kevins agent made me delete it! Well the agent is blaming it on the team, the team is blaming it on the owner of the team, the owner of the team is blaming it on the president of the country. I’m not quite sure if the president of any country would have enough time on his or her hands to worry about one little blog that less than 100 people read per day…but that’s their story and they are sticking to it.

What’s got into Astana that it’s running scared of a blogger getting 100 hits a day? Have recent moves to stifle dissent within the country now been extended to foreigners?

With its new three-party parliament Kazakhstan likes to present itself as a democracy, but it takes more than a sham parliament  to make a true  democracy with a functioning civil society.

Not only has Kazakhstan lost a critical blogging voice, but Barys Astana has also lost its star defender as  Kevin Dallman’s contract, which had another three years to run, has now been terminated.

Stacy Dallman signed off with the following

I’m done.

No more blogs about Kazakhstan.

I leave behind some of the most intelligent, discerning young people who are poised to become the next leaders of a historically repressed country that I am confident has the desire and ambition to overcome it’s problems.

My expulsion from the country only verifies each and every point that I have witnessed over the past four years spent in Astana.

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →