Halyk Fund backs phygital basketball at The Games of the Future 2026

In the tournament's official program, the event is listed as Phygital Basketball presented by Halyk Fund.

The phygital basketball competition will be held from July 29 through August 3 at the Qazaqstan Athletics Sports Complex. The 16-team field will include Kazakhstan's GTB KZ and PBC Astana, alongside prominent international clubs such as Boca Juniors and Valencia Basket.

Phygital basketball combines digital and traditional sport in a single competition. Each match is played in two stages, starting with a 2-on-2 basketball simulator and continuing with a physical 2-on-2 game on the court. The winner is determined by the combined score from both stages.

The initiative continues the Halyk Fund’s long-standing work to promote esports in Kazakhstan under the leadership of Timur Kulibayev. In 2025, the fund was the general partner of the Almaty Cyber Games Media & Cup and Almaty Cyber Games International tournaments. In 2026, it partnered with the NNEF Public Foundation to launch the Qazaqstan Cyber Games Students League.

More than 1,500 students from 100 universities across Kazakhstan took part in the league's qualifying stage. The fund's youth- and student-focused initiatives are carried out in partnership with the University Alliance of Science and Technology, comprising IITU, Astana IT University, KBTU, UIB, and Energo University. Alongside funding esports projects, the Halyk Fund collaborates with its partners to organize competitions to a high professional standard.

"The unique feature of phygital basketball is that it combines digital skills with real athletic performance in a single competition. Technology does not replace sport — it complements it. Seeing Kazakh teams compete on home court against leading international clubs will provide a strong boost to the development of new sporting formats in our country," said Sagynbek Shunkeev, CEO of the Halyk Charitable Fund.

Founded in 2016, the Halyk Charitable Fund supports projects in education, healthcare, social protection, sports, culture, environmental protection, and infrastructure. Since its inception, the fund has implemented more than 214 projects and provided over 90.4 billion tenge in charitable funding.

The Games of the Future 2026 will run in Astana from July 29 to August 9, bringing together over 800 athletes from more than 50 countries.

Earlier, it was reported that the President's TV and Radio Complex will cover The Games of the Future 2026 opening ceremony and key competitions.