Astana's basketball club has officially withdrawn from the VTB United League for the 2026/2027 season, reports infohub.kz.
The VTB United League was founded in 2008 as a tournament for basketball teams from the post-Soviet and later Eurasian space. Over the years, teams from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and even Finland have competed in it. However, after 2022, the league's geography narrowed to three countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. In the spring of 2024, due to financial difficulties, Minsk left the tournament, leaving Astana as the only non-Russian representative. And in the spring of 2025, the Kazakh club also suspended its participation in the league due to financial problems.
This spring, Astana decided to return to the tournament and submitted an application, which was approved by the Board of Directors of the VTB United League. In June, a meeting of the League Council was held in Moscow, attended by the tournament's management and club representatives. At this meeting, the composition of participants, format, and regulations for the 2026/2027 championship were approved. As meeting participants reported, Astana officially returned to the tournament, and a Russian debutant, Dynamo from Vladivostok, also joined the list of participants. As a result, 12 teams were supposed to participate in the tournament, but in August rumors emerged about a new force majeure in Astana.
The official resource of the VTB United League reported that documents for participation in the upcoming season and financial guarantees of the Astana basketball club were provided by the Kazakhstan Tourism and Sports Industry Support Fund and reviewed by the League. Based on the review of these documents, the club was accepted into the list of participants at the League Council in June. As of early August, no documents on the withdrawal of BC Astana had been submitted to the VTB United League, but the general director of the Kazakh club, Samson Arakelyan, stated that it was a matter of the near future, and on Tuesday, August 12, the withdrawal was confirmed.
"The VTB United League received an official letter from PBC Astana (Kazakhstan) about the club's refusal to participate in the VTB United League Championship of the 2026/2027 season," the tournament's official resource said in a statement. "According to the letter, signed by the club's general director Samson Arakelyan, Astana will not be able to compete in the upcoming championship due to optimization of financing. In accordance with the Competition Regulations, the club will be excluded from the list of participants in the 2026/2027 season. Representatives of PBC Astana and the Basketball Federation of Kazakhstan also leave the League Council."
At the same time, the VTB United League plans to maintain the approved competition system for the 2026/2027 season, and Astana may also lose the national championship: last week, players of the capital club appealed to the country's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to intervene and save the team, while the Ministry of Tourism and Sports stated that the club does not justify the budget funds invested in it with its results.