The White Falcons’ transformation was one of the most compelling fairy tales at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 as the debutants became the first side to progress into the knockout stage of the Continental showpiece since Australia in 2007.
And behind the scenes reveal a carefully and meticulously constructed blueprint spearheaded by the Football Federation of Kyrgyz Republic (FFKR) and the Football League of Kyrgyz Republic (FLK) – who have been relentless in their pursuit to professionalise the game at all levels.
Capitalising on the nascent roots for the sport, the FFKR and FLK have been working with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to establish a dedicated football broadcast channel to grow the passion for the game in the country.
Through the AFC President’s Development Initiative, the AFC deployed a Marketing Consultant, Mr Elnur Mammadov, in June 2018, who set out quickly to form a collective unit comprising stakeholders from clubs and leaders from the business community.
Mr Mammadov said: “The key element that came out of the meetings, which is reflected through the plan, was the need to initiate and establish a new TV channel dedicated to football in Kyrgyz Republic to better engage with both fans and sponsors.”
“With only one live broadcast station, the state channel was not able to cover all the matches. Additionally, we recognised the need to generate more revenue by creating exclusive and engaging content for us to achieve our goal of reaching more than one million people in Kyrgyz Republic.”
In a matter of months, Kyrgyz Sports TV - a new one-stop football dedicated YouTube channel - was launched in March 2019 and early signs point to an energising impact that is strengthening the foundations for the beautiful game to grow. Since its inception, Kyrgyz Sports TV has aired more than 1,000 matches live, reaching nearly seven million views.
FLK President Nurbek Atakanov said: “The ultimate goal for the Kyrgyz league is to be self-sufficient and the live broadcast of all football and futsal competitions will raise the popularity of the sport, excite and expand the reach to more audience, which ultimately attracts more sponsors.
“We have had an amazing response from our fans and our engagement numbers are growing with each match. Our aim is to be the number one sports channel in the country and to ensure that we are able to reinvest the revenue into our clubs, which will raise the standards of football in the country.”
Live streaming is increasingly emerging as the engine driving fan engagement and revenue generation across the world of sport, and the FFKR and FLK, through the AFC President’s Development Initiative, are at the forefront of breaking the barriers to access and effectively realising a cultural shift that will benefit tomorrow’s generation of fans and players.
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