Footballers of Astana's main squad have demanded that the club's management pay off wage arrears of at least three monthly salaries to each player. Until this demand is met, the team intends to refuse to participate in the remaining matches of the 2026 Kazakhstan championship. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
A copy of the collective appeal, dated September 7, was published by sports journalist Eldar Amanbayev. The document is addressed to the founder of Astana – the Corporate Fund 'Tourism and Sports Industry Support Fund', as well as to the management of the football club.
In the appeal, the footballers stated that there is a long-standing debt on payments stipulated by contracts. According to the players, for a long period they continued to train and participate in official matches despite the financial situation at the club.
'Today, the amount of accumulated debt has reached a level at which further preservation of the current situation is unacceptable for the players,' the appeal says.
The players demanded that the debt be paid off for at least three months.
'Until the required debt is actually paid, the footballers of the main squad of FC Astana refuse to participate in all remaining official matches of the 2026 season of the Republic of Kazakhstan football championship.'
There is no official information yet on whether the players' demands have been met after the publication of the appeal.
On September 6, Amanbayev reported that Astana footballers were ready to refuse training and official matches if the debt was not paid by September 7.
On the same day, the team played a KPL match against Elimai and defeated the opponent 4:0. After the match, head coach Grigory Babayan was asked about the salary situation and a possible boycott.
'We are all waiting for tomorrow today. There is nothing more to say,' Babayan replied.
The debt situation could directly affect the team's fight in the championship. After the victory over Elimai, Astana scored 45 points and occupies third place in the KPL. On September 12, Astana is to play away against the leader Ordabasy, and on September 17 to host Kairat. In total, the capital club has seven KPL matches left until the end of the season.