By Matt Flemming
Staff Reporter
How did Luiz Felipe Scolari and Rivaldo end up with a team called FC Bunyodkor in the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan? For the casual fan not familiar with professional football in Central Asia, it's a completely logical question ― and one that's not simple to answer. Bunyodkor is a club that is shrouded in mystery, whose ascendancy has raised questions about who is in control and what the motives are for the huge financial investment the club has received.
The club, based in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, is in Korea tonight to face the Pohang Steelers, in the second leg of the Asian Football Conference Champions League quarterfinals. The team arrived in Pohang on Sunday in good position to move on to the semifinals after a 3-1 win over the Steelers in Tashkent last Wednesday.
Back in Uzbekistan, the club is a perfect 23-0 in the domestic league, and has outscored its opponents 71-9, a year after winning both the league and the league cup. In just a few short years, Bunyodkor has gone from a team that wasn't even playing in the highest domestic league, to a club sparing no expense to be the best on the continent and earn a chance to face some of the world's best clubs in the FIFA Club World Cup. In a country riddled with poverty, someone is pouring millions of dollars into the team, claiming the best domestic talent and bringing in the likes of Rivaldo last year, Scolari this past June and others in the hopes of building a super club.
Scolari, who led Brazil to the FIFA World Cup title in 2002, and also led Portugal to the final of Euro 2004 and the semifinal of the 2006 World Cup, is reportedly earning $18 million for an 18 month contract with the team. Rivaldo, a former star with FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team, initially signed a two-year deal that was said to be worth 10.2 million euros and he has since signed an extension through 2011.
Last year, the team attempted to sign current Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o to a highly-lucrative short term deal and had even announced at one point that the deal was done. Eto'o, playing with Barcelona at the time, declined the offer with the team, which was known as Kuruvchi at the time.
The offer appeared to be further evidence of just how serious the team is about succeeding.
``My head started spinning when I heard what they offered ― $25 million to play for two or three months,'' Eto'o was quoted as saying at the time.
A brand new 30,000-seat stadium is under construction, a project which will reportedly cost $150 million.
Officially, the club is owned by Zeromax, a Swiss company with significant dealings in oil, gas and telecommunications in the Central Asia nation. However, it has been widely speculated that Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan since 1990, is behind Zeromax and the team is her project.
``No one would say that openly (in Uzbekistan) but it's a well known thing,'' Rayhan Demytrie, the BBC's correspondent in Central Asia and a native of Tashkent, told The Korea Times.
Officially, the president's daughter is a diplomat in Geneva and a jewelry and clothing designer, but her business interests are said to be extensive. She is also believed to be her father's eventual successor.
The club also counts several domestic oil companies among its sponsors, as seen on the team's official Web site.
Demytrie said the club is not just a hobby for a billionaire football fan. She believes that establishing a super club in Tashkent, for those involved, is about improving the country's image.
``They are really trying to improve the Uzbek image. The amount of money involved, it's just enormous by any standards. There are very few ways to show the country in a good light ― a country which has such a bad reputation for being a repressive state. But one of the ways is through sport.
``Through sport, they can show what Uzbekistan is capable of.''
Concerns have been raised by several NGOs, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union about Uzbekistan's atrocious human rights record, marked by torture, repression, abuse, strict media censorship and religious persecution.
Demytrie, along with all other foreign journalists, are prohibited from news gathering within Uzbekistan, and she returns to her home country only for private visits.
Foreign media, many NGOs and even the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) were all kicked out of Uzbekistan after the government's violent suppression of protestors in May 2005, known as the Andijan Massacre, in which as many as 5,000 people were killed according to some estimates.
Domestically, Bunyodkor ― which means ``creator'' in Uzbek ― has attracted a large and loyal fan base, and the country itself is football crazy, according to Demytrie.
She explained that Bunyodkor's games are sold out and fans pack bars to watch the games on television, and even gambling on the sport has become increasingly popular.
While some may have laughed when Scolari told reporters in June after signing with the team that ``football is on the upswing'' in Uzbekistan when explaining his reasons for coming to Tashkent, he may have been right, given the rise of Bunyodkor, and the government's support and promotion of the sport.
But with extremely high levels of unemployment and poverty in the former Soviet Republic, it would be quite understandable if there were those who questioned the club's heavy spending. However, Demytrie said that is not a sentiment that is expressed publicly.
``People don't question such things, at least not in public,'' she said. ``When they speak in private they may say such things. Especially if you go about 30 kilometers outside of Tashkent where you see such poverty, where people don't even have drinking water.''
The club has a cooperation contract with Barcelona and the similarities between the two teams' logos are unmistakable.
Last summer, Barcelona players Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol, Eto'o, Andreas Iniesta and Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas visited Tashkent for a football clinic with kids.
Barcelona wears the UNICEF logo on its shirt free of charge and works extensively with the children's rights organization. This, according to some, sharply contrasts with Bunyodkor ― a club closely associated with a brutal regime. The partnership has spurned criticism, particularly from former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray.
``I am absolutely appalled,'' Murray told British newspaper The Guardian earlier this year. ``It would be like linking up with Adolf Hitler to promote a Berlin team in the 1930s ― it really is astonishing even in the money-mad world of football to be quite that blind to morality.''
As the winner of the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona has already qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, in December. For Bunyodkor, a win or draw in Pohang on Wednesday means they are one step closer to joining them.
FC Seoul will face Qatar's Umm-Salal in the second leg of the Asian Football Conference Champions League quarterfinals Wednesday at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Seoul is looking to bounce back from a 3-2 away loss to the Qatari club last Wednesday which saw them give up a 2-0 halftime lead.
The club got back in the win column with a 3-0 home victory over Daejeon on the weekend.
"The match against Umm Salal is one of the most important occasions in the club's history," said Seoul coach Senol Gunes. "Our players are ready and we hope the fans will support us.
"We have a few days to recover and I think that is enough for us to be fit by Wednesday."
Jung Jo-gook scored both goals for Seoul in the first leg and emphasized the game's importance.
"The ACL is our number one target. I will do my best to help the team win," he said.