The key facts

  • The khokim of Tashkent approved allocating 5 billion soums to FC Pakhtakor from the City Development Fund
  • D. Khudaybergenov is to submit a proposal to the supervisory board of JSC Toshkent Invest kompaniyasi on transferring the funds
  • Earlier, the club's main sponsor Jahongir Artikkhodjaev left; in its complaint about refereeing, the club hinted at a connection between these events

The khokimiyat's decision

The khokim of Tashkent has decided to allocate 5 billion soums to the Pakhtakor football club, according to the capital city khokim's decision,as reported by Daryo.uz and UzNews.uz. The funds are allocated from the Tashkent Development Fund under the khokimiyat to cover expenses specified in the estimate approved by the club itself.

How the money will be transferred

The decision approved a proposal from the deputy khokim for youth policy, social development and spiritual-educational affairs, as well as the khokimiyat's Municipal Assets Management Center, to allocate funds from the city development fund. The first deputy khokim for finance, economy and poverty reduction, D. Khudaybergenov, has been instructed to submit a proposal to the supervisory board of JSC Toshkent Invest kompaniyasi on transferring these funds to the club. According to UzNews.uz, the same deputy has also been tasked with presenting a report on the implementation of the decision to the Tashkent City Council of People's Deputies.

Context: the departure of the main sponsor

It was previously reported that the former khokim of Tashkent, entrepreneur Jahongir Artikkhodjaev, ended his cooperation with Pakhtakor. In an official complaint about the refereeing of the Superliga matchday 24 game against Navbahor, the club stated that the team had lost its main sponsor due to what it considered unfair refereeing: «Hakamlik ortidan jamoa bosh homiysidan ayrilgani kammidi?» (Wasn't losing the main sponsor after that refereeing enough?), the club's statement said. Thus, the 5 billion soums allocated by the khokimiyat come to replace the sponsorship funding the club lost — and it is precisely this circumstance that makes the decision significant for the club's budget.