Uzbekistan puts 11 professional football clubs up for private management
The Uzbekistan Football Association has announced a tender to transfer 11 professional football clubs to entrepreneurs or groups of entrepreneurs under trust management, with participants offered tax breaks, subsidized loans and advertising discounts.
Uzbekistan has put 11 professional football clubs up for private management.
The association announced the tender on September 26 through its
The process is being carried out under a presidential decree dated March 24, 2026, designed to improve sports financing mechanisms and broaden private-sector participation in the field.
The clubs included in the tender are Bunyodkor, Bukhara, Dinamo, Qizilqum, Navbahor, Nasaf, Neftchi, Lokomotiv, Mashal, AGMK and Pakhtakor.
Entrepreneurs who take over the clubs must provide sponsorship funding equal to at least 20% of the club’s annual operating expenses.
The incentive package includes tax benefits. When calculating corporate income tax, taxable profit may be reduced by the amount of charitable contributions made to finance the club, up to a limit of 10% of taxable profit.
Players at the clubs will be exempt from personal income tax, while the social tax rate applied to them will be set at 1%.
Commercial banks will also offer five-year loans at an annual interest rate of 14%, with a one-year grace period. These loans may be used to buy clubs or to build, rebuild or carry out major repairs of sports facilities.
Borrowers will have to provide liquid collateral and a workable business plan. Buildings, structures and land plots owned by clubs and listed on their balance sheets cannot be used as collateral.
Entrepreneurs will also get a 50% discount on advertising their products and services on national and regional television channels run by Uzbekistan’s National Television and Radio Company during broadcasts intended to promote sports.