Kazakhstan's Supreme Audit Chamber has reminded about the introduction of a national standard regarding "excess escorts" for the national team, reports infohub.kz.
The press service of the Chamber stated that after an audit, a new standard on sports delegations was approved based on the principle of "no excess escorts." The standard was approved by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan.
It is reported that the document regulates the composition of delegations accompanying Kazakh athletes at multi-sport events. The basis was a state audit of the effectiveness of budget funds allocated for preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
"During the inspection, it turned out that when forming the national delegation, there was no approved benchmark: how many coaches, doctors, massage therapists, psychologists, staff representatives, and officials should be per athlete. The number of support staff was determined individually in each case, without a unified methodological basis, which made it impossible to assess the justification of expenses for their assignment," the Chamber noted.
Now, delegation compositions will be formed according to precise established proportions, making expenses predictable and verifiable. Priority is given to specialists from coaching and medical teams who work directly with athletes.
"Overall, the adopted measure will improve the transparency of budget expenditures, strengthen control over them, and reduce the risk of unjustified spending on sports delegations," the Chamber added.
In February of this year, Kazakhstan's Minister of Tourism and Sports, Yerbol Myrzabosynov, commented on the delegation accompanying participants of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy. He stated that "not a single extra person went there."