# 2013 Kazakhstan Premier League

The 2013 Kazakhstan Premier League was the 22nd season of the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest football league competition in Kazakhstan. The season began on 9 March 2013 and ended on 2 November. Shakhter Karagandy were the defending champions, having won their second league championship the previous year.

## Changes from 2012 season

The league was reduced from fourteen to twelve teams for this season.

## Teams

For the 2013 season, the league changed from 14 teams to 12, meaning the bottom two teams from the previous season, Sunkar and Okzhetpes, along with Kaisar were relegated to the Kazakhstan First Division with only Vostok, the second place team, gaining promotion.

### Team overview

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Aktobe | Aktobe | Aktobe Central Stadium | 13,500 |
| Akzhayik | Oral | Petr Atoyan Stadium | 8,320 |
| Astana | Astana | Astana Arena | 30,000 |
| Atyrau | Atyrau | Munaishy Stadium | 9,000 |
| Irtysh | Pavlodar | Pavlodar Central Stadium | 15,000 |
| Kairat | Almaty | Almaty Central Stadium | 25,057 |
| Ordabasy | Shymkent | Kazhimukan Munaitpasov Stadium | 37,000 |
| Shakhter | Karagandy | Shakhter Stadium | 19,000 |
| Taraz | Taraz | Taraz Central Stadium | 12,525 |
| Tobol | Kostanay | Kostanay Central Stadium | 08,323 |
| Vostok | Oskemen | Vostok Stadium | 08,500 |
| Zhetysu | Taldykorgan | Zhetysu Stadium | 04,000 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aktobe | Vladimir Nikitenko | Petr Badlo | adidas | — |
| Akzhayik | Ljupko Petrović | Ruslan Khairov | Puma | — |
| Astana | Ioan Andone | Kairat Nurdauletov | adidas | Qazaqstan Temir Zholy |
| Atyrau | Miodrag Radulović | Valentin Chureev | adidas | — |
| Irtysh | Talgat Baisufinov | Sergei Ivanov | adidas | ENRC |
| Kairat | Vladimír Weiss | Kyril Shestakov | Nike | KazRosGaz |
| Ordabasy | Vakhid Masudov | Kairat Ashirbekov | adidas | TAU |
| Shakhter | Viktor Kumykov | Andrey Finonchenko | Nike | — |
| Taraz | Arno Pijpers | Vitali Yevstigneyev | adidas | — |
| Tobol | Sergei Maslenov | Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev | adidas | — |
| Vostok | Vladimir Fomichyov | Roman Nesterenko | Umbro | — |
| Zhetysu | Omari Tetradze | Zahar Korobov | adidas | — |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Kairat | José Pérez Serer | End of contract | November 2012 | Pre-Season | Vladimír Weiss | November 2012 |
| Ordabasy | Viktor Pasulko | End of contract | November 2012 | Pre-Season | Vakhid Masudov | December 2012 |
| Aktobe | Vladimir Mukhanov | Resign | November 2012 | Pre-Season | Vladimir Nikitenko | December 2012 |
| Atyrau | Yuri Skates | End of contract | November 2012 | Pre-Season | Miodrag Radulović | December 2012 |
| Akzhayik | Jozef Škrlík | End of contract | November 2012 | Pre-Season | Poghos Galstyan | February 2013 |
| Vostok | Paul Evteev | | December 2012 | Pre-Season | Vladimir Fomichyov | December 2012 |
| Tobol | Vyacheslav Hrozny | End of contract | December 2012 | Pre-Season | Sergei Maslenov | December 2012 |
| Zhetysu | Slobodan Krčmarević | Sacked | December 2012 | Pre-Season | Omari Tetradze | February 2013 |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to eight per KPL team. A team can use only five foreign players on the field in each game.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 |
| Aktobe | Petr Badlo | Robert Primus | Robert Arzumanyan | Serghei Covalciuc | Timur Kapadze | Sergei Davydov | | |
| Akzhayik | Jakub Chleboun | Pavel Černý | Haman Sadjo | | | | | |
| Astana | Nenad Erić | Foxi Kéthévoama | Patrick Twumasi | Blažo Igumanović | Damir Kojašević | Zelão | Cícero | |
| Atyrau | Jovan Golić | George Peikrishvili | Artyom Fomin | Miloš Stojčev | Đorđe Tutorić | Nenad Injac | Robert Alviž | Nikola Milanković |
| Irtysh | Nemanja Džodžo | Alyaksandr Kulchy | Predrag Govedarica | Mamoutou Coulibaly | Sergei Strukov | Ulugbek Bakayev | Štěpán Kučera | Kamoliddin Murzoev |
| Kairat | Daniel Addo | Stuart Duff | Josip Knežević | Alexei Eremenko | Ľubomír Michalík | Momodou Ceesay | Artur Yedigaryan | |
| Ordabasy | Andrew Mwesigwa | Gueye Mansour | Artem Kasyanov | Davit Chagelishvili | Andrezinho | Edin Junuzović | Baba Collins | Mohamed Arouri |
| Shakhter Karagandy | Gediminas Vičius | Nikola Vasiljević | Andrey Paryvayew | Aldin Đidić | Gevorg Ghazaryan | Ihar Zyankovich | Aleksandar Simčević | Roger Cañas |
| Taraz | Ersin Mehmedović | Abdoulaye Diakate | Nikolai Nesterenko | Miroslav Lečić | Vukašin Tomić | Titi Essomba | Marko Ranđelović | Obiora Odita |
| Tobol | Jhonnes | Mensur Kurtiši | Nenad Šljivić | Igor Bugaiov | Vitali Volkov | Aleksandr Alumona | Nikola Tonev | Ognjen Krasić |
| Vostok | Martin Komárek | Radanfah Abu Bakr | Ramón Sánchez | Ebrima Sohna | Walter Moore | Papa Niang | | |
| Zhetysu | Mehmedalija Čović | Davron Ergashev | Shavkat Salomov | Ruslan Melziddinov | Arūnas Klimavičius | Marko Đalović | Ivan Perić | |
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

## First round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Aktobe | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 12 | +18 | 47 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 2 | Astana | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 24 | +11 | 41 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 3 | Shakhter Karagandy | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 35 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 4 | Irtysh Pavlodar | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 34 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 5 | Kairat | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 28 | 24 | +4 | 31 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 6 | Ordabasy | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 30 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 7 | Atyrau | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 28 | −10 | 27 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 8 | Tobol | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 27 | +3 | 26 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 9 | Vostok | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 24 | −12 | 23 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 10 | Zhetysu | 22 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 25 | −5 | 21 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 11 | Taraz | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 19 | 29 | −10 | 18 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 12 | Akzhayik | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 13 | Qualification for the relegation round |
* ↑ Zhetysu were deducted 3 points.
* ↑ Akzhayik were deducted 6 points.

### Results

| Home \ Away | AKT | AKZ | AST | ATY | IRT | KRT | ORD | SHA | TAR | TOB | VOS | ZHE |
| Aktobe | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Akzhayik | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Astana | 1–2 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 |
| Atyrau | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Kairat | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 3–3 |
| Ordabasy | 0–1 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Taraz | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Tobol | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Vostok | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 |
| Zhetysu | 0–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | |

## Championship round
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Aktobe (C) | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 46 | 22 | +24 | 43 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Astana | 32 | 19 | 5 | 8 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 42 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Kairat | 32 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 44 | 38 | +6 | 33 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Irtysh Pavlodar | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 27 | |
| 5 | Shakhter Karagandy | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 26 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 6 | Ordabasy | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 33 | 34 | −1 | 23 | |
* ↑ Shakter qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2013 Kazakhstan Cup.

### Results

| Home \ Away | AKT | AST | IRT | KRT | ORD | SHA |
| Aktobe | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 |
| Astana | 1–0 | | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | 4–0 | 0–1 | | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Kairat | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | | 0–0 | 3–3 |
| Ordabasy | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | | 4–0 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | |

## Relegation round
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 7 | Tobol | 32 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 48 | 33 | +15 | 35 | |
| 8 | Atyrau | 32 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 28 | |
| 9 | Zhetysu | 32 | 6 | 17 | 9 | 22 | 32 | −10 | 22 | |
| 10 | Taraz | 32 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 21 | |
| 11 | Vostok (R) | 32 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 37 | −17 | 20 | Qualification for the relegation play-off |
| 12 | Akzhayik (R) | 32 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 19 | Relegation to the Kazakhstan First Division |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AKZ | ATY | TAR | TOB | VOS | ZHE |
| Akzhayik | | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Atyrau | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Taraz | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Tobol | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Vostok | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | | 0–0 |
| Zhetysu | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |

## Top goalscorers

    As of 11 November 2013
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Igor Zenkovich | Shakhter Karagandy | 15 (3) |
| 2 | Igor Bugaiov | Tobol | 13 (2) |
| 3 | Momodou Ceesay | Kairat | 12 |
| 4 | Edin Junuzović | Ordabasy | 12 (0) |
| 5 | Josip Knežević | Kairat | 10 (4) |
* ↑ Zenkovich scored 9 for Akzhayik.