«The league is being talked about in Germany and the US. Our website is unparalleled». Shokh on the development of the QJ League

QJ League President and KFF Vice-President Rokhus Shokh met with representatives of sports media of Astana. During the meeting the results of the season 2023 were summarised, the future plans of the League were told and the most interesting questions were answered.

 

– Your specialists are actively trying to be hired by other representatives of our football.

 

– I tell all my guys: you are young, you have your whole life ahead of you, conquer new heights, develop. We have free relations with them. I will be only happy if our current team develops in other projects. There is nothing wrong with that. We have been able to prove to everyone that we can make cool products with our Kazakh people.

 

– Will there be a QJ League amongst the girls?

 

– Unequivocally, yes. Recently, one of our employees came to Ust-Kamenogorsk and the girls asked: «when will there be QJ among girls?». Girls are very charged up for the fight and are looking forward to a chance to demonstrate themselves in our tournament. Our main sponsor Timur Turlov with two hands «for» the development of women's football in the country. Another point is that in Kazakhstan and in general around the world there is stagnation of women's football.

 

– Timur Turlov has an idea to create a professional team in the second league from QJ League pupils.

 

– That's not an idea I've heard.

 

– This was said to one of our colleagues.

 

– There are different things being said in the conversation. Today for him the priority is the development of the QJ League. In the near future, he wants the project to leave a mark in the history of Kazakhstani football. Last year I told Timur that we would make an impact in a couple of years, but it turned out to be already in the first season of the project.

 

We will see the first «swallows» in three years. This year the boys born in 2008 are coming in, and next year there will be players born in 2009. And it is these athletes who will pass the elite school of our league, and then we will be able to assess their level. The KFF should deal with the systematic approach to the younger generation, which it does in principle, but we, in turn, want to contribute to the development of our children.

 

– What's the ultimate goal?

 

– Our goal is to qualitatively change young footballers by the age of 17. We have to train them in technical, tactical, physical and mental things, because all these factors together influence the formation of an athlete.

 

– For example, Boranbayev and Galitskiy stated that their ultimate goal is to have 11 pupils in the squad. Maybe you also have such goals?

 

– I have great respect for both Kairat Boranbayev and Sergey Galitskiy. They have done a lot for children's and youth football. The story about 11 players? I'm not going to dispute it. It is quite feasible. «Athletic Bilbao?» They've never won the league. «Barcelona?» They had a fruitful year of stars lighting up in La Masia, and they realised it in one of their matches, but the foreigners also contributed a lot to the success. Both Boranbayev and Galitskiy are well aware that there is a lot of competition in the football environment. They will continue to acquire foreigners in order to win titles and move further and further in the European cups.

 

– Are there any interest from countries near us to take part in the QJ League and give the tournament an international status?

 

– I have good relations with all the people from the post-Soviet space. Our league is known by all the countries of the former Soviet Union. Our league is talked about in Israel, Germany and even in the USA. Technical and tactical actions of our players can be checked by any scout in the world. Our website has no analogues in the former Soviet Union. We want our players to go to the leading European championships and become leading players of the national team.

 

– You didn't answer the question about whether teams from near abroad can join?

 

– We do not consider this variant of events. We were approached by certain people who were interested in participating in the QJ League. These were teams from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Everything is possible, but for now this is our national project.

 

– Is the QJ League planning to get involved in infrastructure issues?

 

– Timur Turlov and his holding cannot physically deal with these issues even if they wanted to. He does not have enough funds. Now we are incentivising regional authorities to invest in the development of children's football, which is one of the tasks. We must invest in local schools, children and our future. I hope and believe that regional business will come in addition to the authorities.

 

– Will anyone be able to compete with the pupils of «Kairat» in the new season?

 

– «Kairat» was ahead of its time and it is a credit to Boranbayev that he created a systematic school and built a great infrastructure. At one time, this was done by Abdubaitov when he made the school «Ontustik», but the story ended quickly. If you look objectively, it will be difficult to compete with Almaty, because they do a tremendous job and collect the best players from all over the country. However, other teams also have growth on this background, which will create a denser competition in the future.

 

– Aren't you afraid that, having such a plan, it will be painful for the pupils to fall?

 

– This is a sporting environment, normal competition, and he who is ready survives. We have given a platform, set the bar high. For example, we show QJ with 12 cameras. Our games are commentated in two languages – Kazakh and Russian.

 

– Why is there no «Tobol» in QJ League?

 

– Nobody is guaranteed to be in the elite. We talked about this at the beginning of last season, because not all clubs worked properly in terms of media and marketing. «Tobol» – one of the contenders to participate in the upcoming season.

 

Source: Meta-ratings.kz