Football Club Kairat is a professional football club based in Almaty, which plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. Founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, they became Urozhay in 1955 and Kairat in 1956. The club's home ground is the Central Stadium which has a capacity of 23,804. The club's home kit colours are yellow and black striped shirts, black shorts and black socks.
Football Club Atyrau is a professional football club based in Atyrau, who last played in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 8,900-seat Munaishy Stadium, where they have played since their inception.
Jetisu Taldykorgan is a Kazakh professional football club based at the Zhetysu stadium in Taldykorgan. They are a founding member of the Kazakhstan Premier League, having missed five seasons because of relegations.
The Central Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Almaty, Kazakhstan and the largest sports complex in the country. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium is shared by FC Kairat Almaty. It also serves as the home stadium for the Kazakhstan national football team.
Gani Muratbayev Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Kaisar. It is named after the founder of Kazakhstan Young Communist League Gany Muratbayev.
Karim Qajymqanuly Massimov is a Kazakh politician who served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 2007 to 2012 and again from 2014 to 2016. He was Deputy Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 and held the positions of Minister of Economy and Budget Planning and Minister of Transport and Communications in 2001. He served as chairman of the National Security Committee from 2016 to 2022.
Zhas Kanat Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Aktau, Kazakhstan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Caspiy.
The Kazakhstan Super Cup is a one-match football annual competition. The two participating clubs are the Kazakhstan Premier League champion and the Kazakhstan Cup winner. If these two competitions are won by the same team, then the other participant will be the runner-up of Kazakhstan Premier League.
Astana Football Club is a professional football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,254-seat Astana Arena stadium. The club colours, reflected in their badge and kit, are sky blue and yellow. Founded as Lokomotiv Astana in 2009, the club changed its name to Astana in 2011.
Kaliningrad Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the Rostec Arena since August 2023, is a football stadium on Oktyabrsky Island, Kaliningrad, Russia, which hosted four games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It hosts FC Baltika Kaliningrad of the Russian Premier League, replacing Baltika Stadium.
Rostov Arena is an association football stadium in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. It was one of the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It also hosts FC Rostov of the Russian Premier League, replacing Olimp – 2. It has a capacity of 45,000 spectators.
Akzhayik Sports Club is a bandy team in Kazakhstan, which is the only professional team in the country and plays in the second highest division of Russia, the Russian Bandy Supreme League.
Shymkent is a city in Kazakhstan, near the border with Uzbekistan. It is one of three cities in Kazakhstan that have the status of a city of republican significance. It is the third-most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty and Astana, with an estimated population of 1,002,291 as of 1 June 2018. It is a regional cultural centre. Shymkent is situated 690 kilometres west of Almaty and 1,483 kilometres south of Astana. It is also 120 kilometres to the north of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Bakhytzhan Abdiruly Sagintayev is a Kazakh politician who was a Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, from 9 September 2016 until his resignation on 21 February 2019. He served as the Äkim of Almaty from 28 June 2019 until he was replaced by Erbolat Dosaev on 31 January 2022 following the 2022 Kazakh unrest which greatly affected the city.
The 2017 FC Ordabasy season is their 15th season in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest tier of association football in Kazakhstan, following their promotion from to the Kazakhstan First Division in 2003. Ordabasy will also play in the UEFA Europa League and Kazakhstan Cup.
The Dushanbe Stadium is a football stadium that was under construction in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, which was planned to be opened in 2021. The venue will have a capacity of 30,000 spectators. As of 2024, construction has been suspended.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Kazakhstan on 13 March 2020 after two Kazakh citizens in Almaty returned from Germany. That same day, two more cases were confirmed, with one female arriving from Italy in Astana and the other from Germany in Almaty as well. Following the outbreak, on 15 March 2020, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency that was set to last until 15 April 2020. However, measures were prolonged in order to curb the transmission of the virus, leading to many notable holidays such as Nowruz and the Victory Day being cancelled. On 19 March 2020, a strict quarantine was placed on the cities of Astana and Almaty, where the most cases were occurring. On 30 March 2020, Atyrau and five cities in Karaganda Region went under a lockdown.
Arkadag is a city in southern Turkmenistan. It became the regional capital of Ahal Province effective 20 December 2022. It is a largely greenfield development started in 2019 with an initial budget of $1.5 billion. The city was named in honor of former President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who is officially entitled Arkadag. Uniquely among Turkmen cities, Arkadag is by law designated a "city of state importance".
