Kokpar may stir controversy

LONDON – No country from Central Asia has ever hosted the Asian Games since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union brought Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to the Asian zone as independent nations. The Central Asia countries made their Asian Games debut in 1994.

Perhaps, the Central Asia country with the highest probability of hosting the Asian Games is Kazakhstan which is rich in oil, natural gas and uranium. Gross domestic product is estimated to be $232 Billion with per capita income of $13,000 and a population of 17 million. In 2000, Kazakhstan became the first former Soviet state to repay all its debt to the International Monetary Fund, seven years ahead of schedule.

The capital city Astana will host the World Expo in 2017 and another city Almaty is where the International Boxing Association (AIBA) inaugurates the World Boxing Academy this month. Almaty is the site of the AIBA World Men’s Championships involving 576 fighters from 116 countries on Oct. 11-27. Kazakhstan participated in its first Summer Olympics in 1996 and has since captured 16 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze medals. In London last year, Kazakhstan’s harvest included seven gold medals. Boxing is the country’s largest contributor of Olympic gold medals with six. Weightlifting has delivered five, athletics two and wrestling, cycling and modern pentathlon one each.

If ever Kazakhstan hosts the Asian Games, will it showcase kokpar? The sport is equestrian in nature but while it has some polo connotation, the use of sheep or goat carcass as the focus of competition may stir controversy and concern among advocates of prevention of animal cruelty. The justification for promoting the sport is it is traditional and dates back to Kazakhstan’s nomadic origins during the days of Genghis Khan. But civilization today has norms that frown on the brutal display of animal carcass for sport. Gladiators fought to the death in ancient Rome until acts of barbarity and inhumanity were forever banned.

Still, Kazakhs are pushing to put kokpar as a mainstream sport and recently held the first Central Asian Championships in Astana. Tajikistan and a team from Turkey were among the participants. Kokpar has apparently grown in popularity in Turkey and is played by Turks living in Greece.

Jane Perlez, writing in the International Herald Tribune, described kokpar as a tough version of polo. “Instead of playing with wooden mallets and a ball from the back of a horse, riders use their bare hands and lean to pick up a headless sheep or goat from the ground,” she explained. “They then race to the goal clutching the dead animal. Rather than using goal posts, large cauldrons serve as goals. Riders have to heave the dead animal over the rim of the goal in order to score. Four horses and riders play on each team and the scrum of horses and riders pushing, colliding, surging around the goal with whips cracking creates a rough and violent contact sport.”

Retired player Marat Baytugelov, quoted by Perlez, said, “It’s a kind of cruel game playing with a dead sheep but in our country, it’s normal … the most difficult thing is getting the goal, you have to have strong arms, strong stamina and you must ride the horse well.” The animal carcass must be at least 66 pounds to qualify as the “ball.”

Baytugelov said he anticipates protests from animal rights activists as kokpar becomes more popular. He suggested the use of a “fake” animal carcass to appease the activists and keep the sport alive in modern civilization.

The 17th edition of the Asian Games will be held in Incheon, South Korea. Hanoi will host in 2019. Through the years, the Asian Games calendar has welcomed non-Olympic sports with a distinct Asian flavor like sepak takraw, wushu and kabbadi in 1990 and karate in 1994. It wouldn’t be surprising if and when Kazakhstan hosts the Asian Games, kokpar will be added to the schedule with or without a “fake” animal carcass.

Kazakhstan’s emergence as an Asian sports power is evident in its haul of 110 gold, 119 silver and 168 bronze medals in only four Asian Games since 1994. A reason for the glowing performance is Kazakh athletes show a broad range of ethnic heritage. Some are stocky like Mongolians, others are tall like Russians. The diversity has allowed Kazakhstan to match the physical attributes of athletes with sports where they enjoy the highest probability of success.

In basketball, for instance, Kazakhstan has 6-10 Anton Ponomarev and 6-7 Mikhail Yevstigneyev who both look more Russian than Kazakh. Other Kazakh sports stars include decathlete Dimitry Karpov, boxers Oleg Maskaev and Vassily Jirov, cyclist Alexander Vinokuorov and weightlifter Ilya Ilin. If kokpar is added to the Asian Games calendar as an equestrian event, for sure more Kazakh stars will be unveiled. It appears inevitable that Kazakhstan, buoyed by a booming economy, will someday host the Asian Games.