The second season of the youth football league Freedom QJ League starts in Kazakhstan

The launch of the QJ League was an important milestone for the development of Kazakhstan football, and the league itself became a project of national importance in a short period of time. During the first season, the League covered 12 youth teams from 10 regions of the country. According to the results of 2023 Freedom QJ League was recognised as the best sports organization in Kazakhstan.

 

In the second season, the geography of the League has expanded: in 2024, young men from 18 regions of the country will take part in the tournament. In total, 32 teams are represented in the QJ League, which will be divided into three divisions in two age categories. In the new season, 320 matches are scheduled for the QJ League.

 

It is planned that the QJ League will expand at least twice more by 2025, and a separate league for girls will be created. More than 70 teams and 3,000 athletes will take part in the competition.

 

It's worth noting that all funding comes from the League's general partner, Freedom Holding Corp.

 

At the same time, the league is not standing still and is looking for new partners. We are pleased to announce a sponsorship agreement with Mastercard, a transnational financial corporation with 22,000 financial institutions in 210 countries.

 

As part of the cooperation, the award for the best goal of the week will be named Mastercard Goal of the Week, and joint events to promote football will be organized.

 

Participants of the first season of the League have already established themselves in professional football: Miras Umaniyazov, Ruslan Zakharov, Akhmetali Kaltanov and many others have successfully debuted for their teams and noted effective actions in the first rounds of the QFL Premier League and the Cup of the country. 

 

It is worth noting that Tamerlan Agimanov, Dimash Serikuly and others tried their hand in the leading leagues of Europe.

 

We should also mention Ilyas Abil, who signed a contract with Portuguese Primera club Gil Vicente. As well as Dulat Talyspaev, who plays for Danish Koge.  

 

Participants of QJ League-2024: Akzhaiyk (Uralsk), Aksu (Pavlodar region), Aktobe, Altay (Ust-Kamenogorsk), Astana, Atyrau, Yelimay (Semey), Zhas Kyran (Almaty), Zhetysu (Taldykorgan), Kairat (Almaty), Kaisar (Kyzylorda), Caspiy (Aktau), Kyzylzhar (Petropavlovsk), Okzhetpes (Kokshetau), Ontustik (Shymkent), Ordabasy (Shymkent), Taraz, Tobol (Kostanay), Ulytau (Zhezkazgan), Shakhtyor (Karaganda).

 

Timur Turlov, Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Holding Corp. and Chairman of the QJ League Board of Trustees: «QJ League is a big social project that we are implementing in close cooperation with KFF. We have a common goal - the development of Kazakhstan football, and not only players, but also coaches, referees, managers.

 

I believe that in order to improve and develop football in the country, it is most important to invest resources in people, and only then in infrastructure and other things. We need to make sure that people in the industry have decent salaries.

 

Expenses for the first season of QJ League on the organisation of teams' trips, as well as payment for the work of referees and inspectors amounted to 357 million tenge. Of these, 315 million tenge was spent on logistics, 24.5 million tenge on referees' travel, and the fee fund totalled 17.5 million tenge.

 

There is a big social demand for football in Kazakhstan, especially in the regions. In the new season, the QJ League will cover teams from all regions of the country, and in a couple of years there will be several thousand young athletes in the league. In football you can't get results here and now. We are laying the foundations to see the benefits of launching the QJ League in 10 years' time».

 

An important innovation in the Freedom QJ League was the emergence of separate jobs for young professionals in regional football centers and academies. This initiative was supported by the Kazakhstan Football Federation, after which this requirement was included in the licensing of football clubs. Since the new season, each football center or academy must have in its structure a media officer, marketing and team administrator. In this way, the League becomes a platform for the growth not only of football players, but also of other specialists.

 

KFF Vice President and QJ League President Rokhus Shokh: «We have done a great job in the first season of the QJ League. We kicked off with a huge opening match which attracted 18,000 spectators! An unprecedented figure for youth football.

 

Our players from now on play in a week-long cycle, eat like real professionals, live in comfortable conditions and the main thing is that all this is at the expense of the League and its General Partner.

 

We don't plan to stop there, this year we are expanding to 32 two teams, next year we will add four more divisions, including of course a girls league!

 

It is important that we not only let the players develop, but also train the coaches, constantly monitor their work, write recommendations and provide training materials. We gave them access to Hudl, which they thank us for, because it made their work much easier.

 

A very big job has been done in Media and Marketing! In addition to the opening match, we held five more regional matchdays, which attracted full stadiums. And what's important is that the audience came to the football, everyone sat through to the final whistle.

 

We organized a lot of events for our players and spectators: Cyber tournament, Fantasy League, which gathered a thousand participants, no other league in the country has ever had this before! Collection of clothes for our All-Star match, visits to old people's homes, orphanages, animal shelters, helping needy families, it's all part of life of a modern footballer, and our players like to participate in such events.

 

And the crowning event was our closing ceremony of the QJ League Awards, where we honored the best and also did not forget our ambassadors and football veterans. Everyone enjoyed it very much and noted that there had never been ceremonies of this scale in our football before.

 

We have big plans for this season as well, we are expanding, creating new jobs, new sponsors, and a lot more interesting things are waiting for you. Follow our League, you won't regret it!»

 

Broadcasts of the tournament matches will be available live on national sports TV channels, as well as on the official youtube channel of the league.

 

We are waiting for 320 exciting matches and of course the traditional QJ League matchdays. Already on 20 April the season will open with a match between youth teams of Taraz and Astana.