Employees of Uzbekistan's largest sports complex, Bunyodkor Stadium, are facing severe financial hardship as they have not received salaries since December 2024. A group of workers from the LLC 'Directorate for the Use of Buildings and Structures of Bunyodkor Stadium' appealed to Kun.uz for help.
Security guard Aziz Mansurov stated that he has received only 1 million soums once and 500,000 soums twice since December. 'When we ask about salaries, managers promise they will be paid tomorrow or the day after. Everyone has loans and children. They have already taken my TV and refrigerator from home,' he said.
Another employee, Dilfuza Makhmudova, expressed fear that if football leadership leaves for the World Cup, salaries could be delayed for months. 'There are those who need to hold weddings, families with funerals. People are in a difficult situation. Please help us,' she pleaded.
Security guard Abduvakhob Allaberganov noted that football players and academy staff received their salaries, but directorate employees did not. 'My salary is only 4 million soums, but I can't even get that. I had to sell things from home,' he said.
Chief engineer of the Bunyodkor directorate, Bakhodir Rajabov, commented that salaries are expected by the end of May, depending on the arrival of a new sponsor. 'Our organization was under the sponsorship of Uzbekneftegaz. The sponsorship was terminated from above. Managers are working; salaries will be paid after a sponsor is found,' he explained.
Funding for the Bunyodkor directorate had been provided by Uzbekneftegaz under a 2018 presidential decree. However, from January 1, 2026, the company stopped allocating funds to clubs Nasaf, Bukhara, and Bunyodkor due to declining gas production and systemic issues. While each Super League club will receive 35 billion soums from the state budget in 2026, 30 billion in 2027, and 25 billion in 2028, funding for the Bunyodkor directorate remains uncertain.
Bunyodkor Stadium, designed by German company GMP, began construction in 2008 but stalled due to the bankruptcy of Zeromax, allegedly owned by Gulnara Karimova. The state later completed the project at an estimated cost of $250 million. Initially planned as Central Asia's largest sports complex with 45,000 seats, capacity was later reduced to 34,000.
Source: kun.uz