Astana in disarray...?

[Unchained]

Wow.. fake it until you make it.. nobody is paid but everyone acting as if all is OK..
The UCI is a joke.. riders union a joke.. I hope that they can save the team but as big budget races approach a cash infusion will be critical..sad to see

 

[Koronin]

The real question is, did Movistar and Sky change their kit color to light blue because they saw this coming and now want to attract Astana riders? :surprised:

The answer for Movistar is no. Movistar changed the color because the lighter blue and white are the colors of their parent company Telefonica and Movistar was changing their colors to match that of the parent company.

No idea bout Sky.

 

[SKSemtex]

Astana is folding, BMC is folding ?, no wonder Froome is still riding. Sky can boss the UCI.
And we have economic boom. I wonder what will happen with cycling when new crisis will come again.
Oleg was right this financial model does not work.

 

[Kazistuta]

I thought all WT teams should pose a bank guarantee on one years salaries before being granted WT status? What's up with that, is it just publicity air?

 

[SKSemtex]

Re:

I thought all WT teams should pose a bank guarantee on one years salaries before being granted WT status? What's up with that, is it just publicity air?

That should be a must. And the basic salary should be paid from that account.
But I am pretty confident Nazarbajev will find the money.
This type of leaders just cannot afford that type of negative publicity as " unpaid salaries"
On the other hand this guy looks to me quite different from all these post Soviet leaders. So he can surprise.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

I thought all WT teams should pose a bank guarantee on one years salaries before being granted WT status? What's up with that, is it just publicity air?

That should be a must. And the basic salary should be paid from that account.
But I am pretty confident Nazarbajev will find the money.
This type of leaders just cannot afford that type of negative publicity as " unpaid salaries"
On the other hand this guy looks to me quite different from all these post Soviet leaders. So he can surprise.

Fun story, one of my father's best friends worked as a horse dealer durning the late 90ies and spend a lot of time in Central Asia durning that peroid, he has a ton of crazy stories, Turkmenistan back in the day when the Türkmenbaşy was still alive sounds like the things that you hear from people who visit North Korea.
Back to Astana, the rather low oil price isn't the biggest problem for them, but they already cut a decent amount of the budget because of the Expo and now Glolovkin and Boxing in general have pretty much taken the spot that Vino and cycling used to have, he's the biggest star that they have and they have a few very interesting boxing prospects who haave turned pro, so maybe the priorities are no loger the same.
That said, the sponsor pulling out before the end of the season would be a huge surprise.

 

[the delgados]

Re: Re:

I thought all WT teams should pose a bank guarantee on one years salaries before being granted WT status? What's up with that, is it just publicity air?

That should be a must. And the basic salary should be paid from that account.
But I am pretty confident Nazarbajev will find the money.
This type of leaders just cannot afford that type of negative publicity as " unpaid salaries"
On the other hand this guy looks to me quite different from all these post Soviet leaders. So he can surprise.

Fun story, one of my father's best friends worked as a horse dealer durning the late 90ies and spend a lot of time in Central Asia durning that peroid, he has a ton of crazy stories, Turkmenistan back in the day when the Türkmenbaşy was still alive sounds like the things that you hear from people who visit North Korea.
Back to Astana, the rather low oil price isn't the biggest problem for them, but they already cut a decent amount of the budget because of the Expo and now Glolovkin and Boxing in general have pretty much taken the spot that Vino and cycling used to have, he's the biggest star that they have and they have a few very interesting boxing prospects who haave turned pro, so maybe the priorities are no loger the same.
That said, the sponsor pulling out before the end of the season would be a huge surprise.

I'm surprised the Expo still exists. I never hear about an upcoming Expo, which makes me wonder who the hell plans their vacations around attending an Expo.
"Hey kids, we're going to the Expo!"

Also, just a quick note unrelated to the above post. The notion of a cycling union is a fantasy. There is only a cycling union in name. The riders do not have bargaining rights as a union; they do not have a legal right to strike; they do not have an opportunity to go to arbitration about, say, not being paid.
Maybe the "union' will manage to successfully cancel a stage because of terrible weather conditions, but even that comes with the threat of a price to pay.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Teams these days are largely the playthings of plutocrats or autocrats. If their priorities change, that’s game over.

 

[Koronin]

The riders union at best is probably more likely to get the course changed and not cancelled due to extreme weather. Then you also have riders who don't trust the union or don't believe it's worthwhile.

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe that's why they're getting all those good results; they basically have to survive on Prize Money!

They still get those, right?

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Maybe that's why they're getting all those good results; they basically have to survive on Prize Money!

They still get those, right?

Now there is an interesting thought and maybe an additional layer to what happened in the last 3 KM at Murcia as well between LL Sanchez and Valverde?

 

[pastronef]

the Kazakh government has stopped the funding more suddenly than many hoped Disney would do...

 

[SHAD0W93]

Hopefully they don't fold in the middle of the season. A lot of people would lose jobs.

 

[pastronef]

www.twitter.com/coimbrawu

It's probably why Astana Team faces financial crisis. The Kazahk state-own fund is frozen in Belgium bank. And here is the background story:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-swf-kazakhstan-analysis/kazakhstans-frozen-billions-sound-alarm-for-sovereign-funds-idUSKCN1G40MI

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Sad. They are looking strong now too. Maybe they all know they’re in the shop window...

 

[Koronin]

Here's an article in Spanish with an update on Astana's financial situation. It appears the team will survive the season. I have not seen any updates in English yet.

http://noticiclismo.com/2018/03/05/futuro-astana-esta-asegurado-los-salarios-estan-siendo-revisados/

 

[carlosthedwarf]

There was a mention of them being saved on Eurosport commentary during Paris-Nice stage 3. Said the Kazakh government stepped in.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re:

There was a mention of them being saved on Eurosport commentary during Paris-Nice stage 3. Said the Kazakh government stepped in.

That....doesn't really make sense. It was the Kazakhstani government's money being frozen that caused the situation in the first place. They can't have stepped in to cover their own default.

 

[Koronin]

According to the Spanish article it's a different part of the government that has been to gain access to some of the bank accounts.