Astana, Sep 26 (EFE).- Kairat Boranbayev, president of FC Kairat Almaty, Real Madrid’s next opponent in the Champions League, told EFE that next week’s match between his club and Real Madrid will allow “European soccer to peacefully expand its borders” to Central Asia.
“We are very happy that a Kazakh club is among the 30 best teams in Europe. In this way, European soccer is peacefully expanding its borders,” he said in a videoconference from Almaty, the most populous city in the Central Asian republic.
On September 30, FC Kairat is to host the easternmost match in the history of the continent’s top competition in Almaty, some 6,500 kilometers from Madrid.
“We wish Real Madrid every success. We want soccer to unite us. May soccer win on the field,” said Boranbayev, whose country shares the longest continuous international border with Russia.
A great party in the heart of Central Asia
The president, a Kazakh businessman who owns 70% of the shares in the country’s only private club, insists that Real Madrid’s visit will be “a great party.”
“I don’t know if you’ve seen the images of how the team received the draw. Usually, many teams don’t want to face difficult opponents. Instead, our team was happy that we drew Real Madrid,” he said with a laugh.
Suddenly, all Kazakhs forgot about their favorite teams, whether Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, or Barcelona, and everyone began to support Kairat.
The match has generated “great excitement” with more than a thousand requests from large companies, more than 155,000 ticket requests online, and all hotels in the vicinity of the stadium fully booked.
“This is the first time we’ve encountered such a commotion. The interest is enormous, even more so because it’s our first home game in the Champions League,” he explained.
Almaty was a very soccer-mad city that lost some of its fans after the economic difficulties that followed the fall of the Soviet Union. That is why Boranbayev believes that the match against Real Madrid could serve to open a new chapter in the club’s history.
“The city is unrecognizable. It’s all anyone is talking about,” he confessed.
UEFA better than the Asian Confederation
Kairat, considered the “people’s team” in Kazakhstan, was the only club in the Central Asian republic to compete in the Soviet league.
After gaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan entered the Asian Confederation, but after failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, it decided to join UEFA.
The excuse was that five to six percent of Kazakhstan’s territory (less than 150,000 square kilometers) lies west of the Ural Mountains.
“If we had qualified for the Asian Champions League, we would have received 25,000 euros. So financial stability is also important,” he said.
The president points out that the money Kairat receives for playing in the Conference League is equal to the club’s annual budget, while if it plays in the Champions League, then “it’s three times as much.”
He also said, “Let’s be honest, name five clubs in Asia. Difficult, right? You would probably name the team Cristiano Ronaldo plays for.”
Joma as kit supplier
Tensions in the post-Soviet space forced the club to change the sports brand on its official kit. Nike was replaced by Spain’s Joma, which already works with other teams in the region.
“We had several offers, and one of the best was Joma. We work directly with their headquarters in Spain. We have a great relationship. Our three-year contract with them ends in 2025,” he explained.
He particularly highlights the fact that the Spanish company manufactures shirts with recycled materials, which meets the ecological requirements of the Kazakh club, which is very aware of environmental issues due to the nuclear tests carried out in the steppe during the USSR.
“We speak the same language: soccer. We have different traditions and philosophies of life, but we are all people living on the same planet. And soccer should serve to unite us,” he said. EFE