Big interview with Alisher Nikimbaev (part 2)

We organized a large interview with Alisher Nikimbaev, a well-known international football expert, senior technical expert of the Qatar Football Association. During the interview, Nikimbaev shared his thoughts on the problems in the UzPFL and Uzbek football in general, Katanets' coaching activities, and Khusanov's transfer to City.

Part one of this interview

- You have been writing a series of posts on your channel about the regulations of the UzPFL and their inaction? Diyar Imomkhodjaev responded to this on the "X" page, saying, "I've seen Alisher again in a dream. He's deceiving those who don't know anything (actually, a slightly harsher word was used) and only follow him. What can you say about this?

- It's wrong to comment on Diyar's post on the "X" page. What can you say after a person says something like that? This is his upbringing and level. However, he answered the questions in the comments to that post in such a way that he doesn't know the regulations anyway. He said that clubs can register players in as many numbers as they want, at any time. However, FIFA regulations state that players can only be registered during the period specified in the regulations. I think he should read the regulations.

- We talk a lot about the dependence of our clubs. Moreover, some teams, wanting to become champions, If they don't, they will spend a lot of money to add foreign players to their squad or they will gather the best players from the Super League. If you pay attention, from time to time the squad of this or that club will quickly strengthen. If they reach their goal or fail to do so, they will change their position again. I would call this artificial luxury. What do you think about this?

- You are right. Most of our clubs do not have a clear system. And there may be 1-2 of them that have a system. The rest spend a lot of money to bring in players. Then, unable to pay those players, they are allowed to leave for free. A situation has arisen where Metallurg, which had no financial problems, did not compete for top positions, but was well-financed, is also disappearing. Before that, Turan also disappeared, and there were several other similar situations. When it became clear that Metallurg would not participate in the league, they abandoned Olympique. Then, after a 15-year hiatus, Khorezm returned. But the question is how long will Khorezm last? We hope that it will stay in the league for a long time, but I don't see it. The team that took 6th place in the Pro League last season suddenly appeared in the Super League, and I think it will be a little difficult for them. The problem is that our clubs don't need football. They will get what the leaders give them. If the owners allocate more money, the goal will be a little bigger, and when the amount decreases, they will try to survive in the league. Therefore, if the football business in Uzbekistan does not develop, everything will continue as usual and we may encounter even more problems.

- Considering that our clubs are still under maintenance, we should focus on developing our young players, giving them more opportunities, and using academies regularly. However, most of our clubs do not use their academies much. For example, Neftchi, which has been discussed a lot recently, has added 16 players to its squad, and the youngest of them is Ibragimhalil Yuldashev (23 years old). Instead of introducing strict rules to control this process, the league seems to be adapting to the wishes of our clubs as much as possible, and in most cases, it seems to be working at their whim, sometimes. What do you think about this?

- Clubs do not spend the money they receive on academies. They only need results today. Whoever works at the club, be it a coach or a person in any position, the goal is only results. Tomorrow is not important to them. I can say for sure that our clubs do not have a strategy. Maybe Nasaf and Pakhtakor also have one. But the rest of the clubs are saying "the day has passed, thank God for that." Instead of giving young players a chance, older legionnaires or local players are gathering in teams, 4-5 players gather, play for one club, and the next season they all move to another club. If football people, people who think more about tomorrow than today, do not come to the clubs, everything will remain in this state.

- You wrote that the issue of registering players outside the limit and this practice surprised you, and you said that in the case of "Neftchi" the rules are being completely violated. Aren't you interested in what counter-argument the UzPFL can give for this situation?

- Of course, I am interested. I also asked the question on what basis these things are being done in my post, but we are not getting an answer to the question. True, Diyor wrote a shorter version on the "X" page, not in full. What is it, you can register as many players as you want at any time. However, there was no full explanation of what the concept of "over the limit" means. The most interesting thing is that I am asking the question, but I do not work in Uzbek football. I have the right not to answer and I am not demanding it. But those who are inside our football, those who work in clubs, do not ask such questions. They are not interested. As I said, as the days go by, they are grateful for that. Everything is interconnected, in fact. What will happen to our football tomorrow? What is written in the regulations? Is this right? They are not interested. The issue of licensing is also one of the problems. 19 AFC licenses are being issued in April and May. But the season starts in March. How can you get a license a year early? If Khorezm received a license in May last year, this year it will have to be confirmed again in January. I wonder, maybe all this is only interesting to me?

- Diyor Imomkhodjaev said in 2020 that Alisher aka criticizes the UzPFL, but not the UFA. What can you say about this?

- I criticized the UFA too, if you watched my channel. But the main question should be different. I would have assessed his words as running away without responding to the criticism. The question should be whether the criticism is justified or not. If it is really justified, what is the difference between criticizing the UFA and the AFC? Before Diyor, I criticized both during the time of Farkhod Magomedov and during the time of others. Such statements are considered to be an escape from criticism, not an argument against it.

- The solution is always and in any situation. As one of the few people who criticizes our clubs and the UzPFL a lot, what advice and suggestions can you give to both of them that are equally suitable?

- The solution, advice and suggestion are the same. First of all, we need to stop deceiving ourselves. We also need to convene an independent audit and check whether the regulations comply with FIFA or not. In addition, where is our football heading? What will happen? We need to analyze everything from a financial perspective. How much money do the clubs receive? What do they spend on? By analyzing all of this, we can eliminate the problems. It is okay if the budgets of the clubs are not fully disclosed, let there be a closed meeting, but still some kind of meeting, internal meeting, more dialogue between the clubs and the UzPFL should be held.

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