Battle for Almaty stadium: Kairat gives way to Kanye West
The club published the statement on its official social media accounts.
Where the match will be moved
The club explained that Central Stadium will be unavailable because of the concert.
“Due to Kanye West’s concert scheduled for August 14 at Almaty Central Stadium, which falls during the period of the home match of the third qualifying round of European competition, FC Kairat’s home arena will be unavailable for organizing and holding the match,” the statement said.
Because of this, Kairat asked UEFA to change the venue for the potential home match.
“Taking into account the circumstances and the tight schedule of the European tie, the club submitted a request to UEFA to move the venue of the potential home match of the third qualifying round. Following consideration of this request, the match was approved to be held in Turkestan at Turkistan Arena,” the club said.
The club also said that the date, kick-off time and ticket sales information will be published later, after the team’s further European competition path is determined.
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Background
Several days earlier, FC Kairat had made the opposite statement. At that time, the club said that the announced concert date — August 14 — had not been agreed with the team, which plays its home matches at Central Stadium and is continuing its European campaign.
The club recalled that, according to the Kazakhstan Premier League calendar, Kairat was scheduled to play home league matches on August 8 and 15, while a third qualifying round match in European competition could also take place between August 11 and 13.
The club separately noted that a concert of this scale requires lengthy installation and dismantling of the stage and technical equipment, which could affect the condition of the pitch, the preparation of the arena and the holding of official matches.
At the time, Kairat emphasized that mass events at Central Stadium should be organized only after agreement with all interested parties and taking into account the approved football calendar, and called it premature to announce the stadium as the concert venue before those procedures were completed.
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The press service of the Sports Facilities Directorate said at the time that the necessary negotiations and approvals were underway. Several days later, the issue involving the stadium and the concert had still not been resolved, and ticket sales for Kanye West’s performance in Almaty were postponed.
Now, however, the club has confirmed that the home European match will be held not in Almaty, but in Turkestan.
What is known about Kanye West’s concert
Kanye West’s concert in Almaty became known after a post appeared on one of the artist’s fan pages. The post said the performance would take place on August 14, 2026, and that ticket sales would begin on July 20.
A similar announcement later appeared on the page of entrepreneur and founder of Karre Ventures and ML1 Records Joseph Karre, after which Almaty akimat confirmed the information about the concert.
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The concert will be part of Ye’s world tour. In 2026, the artist has already performed in Mexico and announced a series of major stadium concerts in Europe. The rapper’s recent shows feature large-scale staging with a large spherical stage, lighting and smoke effects, while videos from the performances regularly go viral on social media.
Central Stadium has already been the subject of disputes
Conflicts over major concerts at Almaty Central Stadium have occurred before.
Last year, a similar situation arose around a concert by American singer Jennifer Lopez. After the performance was announced, FC Kairat said the concert date had not been agreed with the club, as Kazakhstan championship and European competition matches had already been scheduled for that period. The club noted that preparing the stadium for matches in line with UEFA requirements did not allow other mass events to be held at the arena.
Later, the concert organizers, Kairat management and the Almaty Sports Facilities Directorate reached a compromise. The Kazakhstan Premier League match between Kairat and Zhenis was moved to another date, allowing Jennifer Lopez’s concert to take place on the previously announced date.
An even more high-profile case involved a concert by Belarusian performer Max Korzh, which was supposed to take place at Central Stadium on September 6. The organizers said they had been preparing the show for almost 10 months, had signed an agreement with the Sports Facilities Directorate, made an advance payment, obtained the necessary approvals, and that tickets had gone on sale in the spring. According to them, about 35,000 tickets had been sold for the concert, and more than 17,000 tourists were expected in Almaty.
However, the concert was canceled a few days before the event. The Sports Facilities Directorate explained the decision by the need to prepare the stadium for Kairat’s UEFA Champions League matches, the absence of a complete package of documents, and the fact that frequent concerts negatively affect the condition of the football pitch.
The artist’s team disagreed with that position. The organizers said the valid agreement with the stadium had been signed back in March, the advance payment had been made and the necessary permits had been obtained. According to them, special covering was planned to protect the pitch, and there was enough time before the football matches for the field to recover. Despite this, the concert was canceled three days before the scheduled date, after which the organizers had to refund tickets.