With clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kygryz in Kyrgyzstan to the east, a raging Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan to the south east, and a country that until recently was run as a cult in Turkmenistan to the south, one could forgive Uzbekistan for being a little wary of its neighbours.
Fortunately, at least when it comes to football development, they are not.
With a third of its 28 million people under the age of 14, it is not surprising that Uzbekistan sees the virtue of youth development.
In the 1990s, the Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) established a series of youth training centres throughout the country, as the sheer number of youth was simply too great to be serviced by existing club academies.
These centres have already yielded impressive results with the Angren centre alone producing the likes of Alexander Geynrikh (Suwon Bluewings) and Ilyas Zeytullayev (ex-Juventus).
This concentration on development is yielding results. Uzbekistan have qualified for two under-20 World Cups, and in a few days will be attending their first ever under-17 World Cup in Mexico (after hosting the last two editions of the AFC under-16 championship).
It is no accident that the youngest referee at the World Cup 2010 and the youngest to officiate an opening match since 1934 was Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov.
In line with this youth focus, Uzbekistan bid for, and won, the right to host the 2012 under-20 Women’s World Cup.
However, Uzbekistan is one country that truly appreciates that football needs to be developed regionally, and that talk is cheap whilst development less so.
For the past four years, Uzbekistan has hosted, and largely paid for, the AFC’s Festival of Football for Central Asia which involves promising under-14 players from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.
Each year, the UFF dig into their coffers and host the festival which includes the strengthening of regional capacity in refereeing, administration, physiotherapy and coaching, including an AFC ‘C’ Certificate Coaching Course.
As the Uzbekistan Daily reported, UFF General Secretary Sardor Rakhmatullaev said during the 2008 tournament, “The festival not only inculcates values of fair play and competitiveness in young children but also teaches them how to communicate with each other.”
“Off the pitch, these get-togethers also help in cultural exchanges and promotes the world view of football without boundaries.”
A noble sentiment, and one that the Uzbeks are prepared to match with action and money.
Not bad for a nation who only gained independence 20 years ago and who live in a decidedly rough neighbourhood. Not bad at all.
Geordie
Guest
Australia should be hosting tournaments with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and even some of the Pacific Island nations.
nordster
Guest
well said, people try and judge other nations and regimes by our standards ... then in the same breath try and say we should recoil from interacting with them in spheres other than military intervention. Diplomacy and engagement through sport and other means are valid ways of trying to advance society's that are admittedly someway behind ours on plenty of issues. People are also very quick to forget it wasn't that long ago that Australia considered our indigenous persons as part of the "fauna" of the country ie not people at all. We weren't always that far advanced ourselves and still aren't in plenty of ways.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I don't believe that he is attempting to white wash any country. He is simply giving credit where credit is due. No country is completely terrible, just as no country is perfect. If someone wrote an article criticising Australia, it does not mean they are suggesting that Australia is satanic. Similarly, writing a complimentary article does not mean that the writer thinks Uzbekistan is angelic.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Justin, I agree that there are many reprehensible aspects to the Uzbek regime as there are in many of the countries we face such as Syria, Myanmar and North Korea. As Whiskeymac sensibly noted, football can be a powerful tool for international diplomacy; even in robustly democratic Australia the political face of football is used as selling point. However football can also be an expressive outlet for people under such regimes, such as the vivid example provided by Team Melli. This aspect of football as a tool for international diplomacy is a very interesting topic, however one worthy of a thesis as opposed to a 1000 word article in the Roar. As far as the Uzbek youth development in football goes I stand by my assertion that it is something they are paying attention to and achieving results in. I disagree with your assertion that recognising this attention and success somehow makes me an apologist for the Karimov regime.
Justin
Guest
Ben, You must be joking. Don't try and white wash this country because football is being used as a tool to further the aspirations of the ruling elite. Look at Uzbekistan's relationship with Kazakhstan and the return of dissidents as well as it's relationship with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan electric power and water disputes. Turkmenistan is currently being run by a lunatic conceivably more mad than the last, the Great Leader of the Turks, Turkmanbashi.
Midfielder
Guest
Ben What a great read.... thanks I really enjoyed it ... Maybe 3AW will report this tomorrow...
whiskeymac
Guest
Ben, have read before that much of the Uzbeks football money is less clean than a brown envelope full of hargitays - its a country allegedly chockers with corruption and the two biggest clubs (or biggest club) is effectively a state run propaganda tool. it is good that footblall can transcend borders and the like but this is a fact sometimes taken advantage of by dictators and the like... for example http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8199254/WikiLeaks-Uzbekistan-is-rampantly-corrupt.html
nordster
Guest
football as a means for young people to engage with society is far better than the alternative offered by religious extremist and militant insurgency groups in many of these parts of the world. Even for the ones who aren't in elite programs ... its not hard to see why some of us take on a more 'evangelical' tone when it comes to this great game we love! Better to 'fight' over lines on a pitch than lines on a map... Thanks Ben, great write-up!