The Committee for Sports and Physical Culture of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan commented on the information about the termination of the basketball club Astana's activities. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

According to the Committee, in recent years the club's results on the international stage did not meet the set tasks and expectations.

Following the last season of the VTB United League, BC Astana took the last, 12th place, winning only two games in 44 matches. The loss percentage exceeded 95%, which became the worst result in the club's history in the League. In addition, for eight years the team failed to reach the playoff stage of this tournament.

On the domestic stage, the basketball club Astana also did not achieve its goals, losing in the fight for the Kazakhstan Cup and failing to win the championship title in the National League.

"Last year, a Law was adopted to improve the efficiency of sports financing. Its main provisions are aimed at the priority development of national teams, the formation of a sports reserve, as well as a ban on financing foreign players from budget funds. In the current conditions, the possibility of revising approaches to the development of domestic basketball is being considered. The priority will be the development of the youth team, the preparation of a sports reserve, and support for children's and youth sports," the organization noted.

Earlier, players of the capital's team and the national team of Kazakhstan recorded a video address to the President of the country Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the Minister of Sports.

The athletes emphasized that the dissolution of the main roster actually deprives them of work and will force many to end their professional careers.

The players asked to preserve funding for the club at least for participation in the Kazakhstan Championship.

"Due to the lack of other teams capable of giving us the opportunity to perform at a professional level, we simply have nowhere to continue our careers. The adoption of this decision will actually force 12 professional basketball players to end their careers, and the national team of Kazakhstan will lose players who have been defending the honor of our country on the international stage for many years.

If PBC Astana retains participation in the Kazakhstan Championship, we will still have the opportunity to continue developing basketball in our country, defend the honor of our clubs and the national team.

The disappearance of the main team 'Astana' will be a serious blow to all Kazakhstani basketball. This will jeopardize the development of young players, weaken the national championship, disrupt the system of training players for the national team, and cause serious damage to the future of our sport.

We also appeal to all our fans to support us in this difficult situation and help draw public attention to this problem. Your support is especially important today," the players' address reads.