Journey over almost 5,000 kilometers
Champions League club gives gifts to ten away fans
Updated 11/28/2025 – 7:14 amReading time: 2 minutes
Qairat Almaty is in the premier class for the first time. The fans have to travel by far the furthest away. A host club has now acknowledged this with a great gesture.
There was a special moment before kick-off at the Champions League game between FC Copenhagen and Qairat Almaty on Wednesday evening: ten fans of the Kazakh club who had traveled from Almaty were honored on the Parken Stadium lawn.
The Danish champions praised the commitment of the supporters who traveled around 4,700 kilometers for the game. Before kick-off, they were invited onto the pitch, received small gifts and were greeted by club representatives. “Traveling 5,000 kilometers to support your team is worthy of all honor,” wrote FC Copenhagen on Instagram. “Ten away fans made the journey from Almaty – we as a club would like to recognize that.” The club concluded by saying: “Football without fans wouldn’t be the same.”
Qairat Almaty also reacted to the campaign: “Thank you for the warm welcome,” it said on the club’s Instagram channel. Other Qairat fans were present in the stadium, although they did not come directly from Kazakhstan but live in various European countries.
Even before the competition, it was clear that Almaty would have to travel particularly long distances this season. The city is located in the extreme southeast of Kazakhstan, close to the Chinese border – no club in the history of the Champions League has ever been further east.
The away game at Sporting Lisbon in September was a record distance in the competition at more than 6,900 kilometers as the crow flies. It is not known whether and how many fans accompanied Qairat on this route.
The next long journey has already been decided: on the last matchday of the group phase, Almaty will face Arsenal FC in London. Until then it is around 5,600 kilometers as the crow flies. There will probably be no further international games for Qairat – after five matchdays the club has only collected one point and is five points behind the play-off places.