The main stands of “Pakhtakor” stadium were closed

A working group was formed by the Professional Football League of Uzbekistan (UzPFL), to inspect 44 sectors of the Pakhtakor stadium in Tashkent.  After careful study, it was determined that the stands of the stadium need complete repair.  This was reported by the press service of UzPFL.

It was discovered that the stands of the "Pakhtakor" stadium were in need of repair during the U-23 Asian Cup held last year.  As a result of this, an unpleasant situation occurred during the match of the U-23 team of Uzbekistan against Iraq.  Later, the AFC did not allow football fans to watch the match between Uzbekistan and the Japanese U-23 team.  The FA was fined heavily.

It is known that after this incident, the stands of the "Pakhtakor" stadium were cleared of stones and concrete pieces.  Minor repairs were carried out between sectors.

However, these small repairs did not improve an overall negative situation.

"The insufficient improvement of the stadium stands was revealed in the match between Pakhtakor and Navbahor, which took place in the 3rd round of the Uzbekistan Championship.  Stones and pieces of concrete were thrown towards the field from the sectors where football fans of Namangan were located.  Any kind of cold weather, precipitation, or chaos between fans will cause the concrete pavement to easily rot.  As a result, the risk of solid objects being thrown into the stadium increases.  This increases the possibility of serious injury to representatives of law enforcement agencies, football players, officials, and children." the UzPFL reported. 

Up to now, only 6 sectors in the stadium will continue to be open to fans.  In turn, the management of the "Pakhtakor" football club and stadium undertook to limit the sale of tickets for the sectors and seats with suspended services and to set up artificial barriers to limit the movement of fans at prohibited points.