2016 Kazakhstan Premier League
The 2016 Kazakhstan Premier League was the 25th season of the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest football league competition in Kazakhstan. Astana were the defending champions having won their second league championship the previous year, and they successfully defended their title this season. The season began on 12 March 2016 and concluded on 29 October 2016; the relegation play-off took place on 5 November 2016.
Teams
was relegated at the end of the 2015 season, and was replaced by Akzhayik.Team overview
| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Aktobe | Aktobe | Aktobe Central Stadium | 15,000 |
| Akzhayik | Oral | Petr Atoyan Stadium | 8,320 |
| Astana | Astana | Astana Arena | 30,000 |
| Atyrau | Atyrau | Munaishy Stadium | 8,690 |
| Irtysh | Pavlodar | Pavlodar Central Stadium | 15,000 |
| Kairat | Almaty | Almaty Central Stadium | 25,057 |
| Okzhetpes | Kokshetau | Okzhetpes Stadium | 4,158 |
| Ordabasy | Shymkent | Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium | 35,000 |
| Shakhter | Karaganda | Shakhter Stadium | 20,000 |
| Taraz | Taraz | Taraz Central Stadium | 11,525 |
| Tobol | Kostanay | Kostanay Central Stadium | 10,500 |
| Zhetysu | Taldykorgan | Zhetysu Stadium | 4,000 |
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 |  Yuri Utkulbayev | Lotto | — | |
| Akzhayik |  Artur Avakyants |  Predrag Govedarica | Adidas | Expo 2017 |
| Astana |  Stanimir Stoilov | Tanat Nusserbayev | Adidas | Samruk-Kazyna |
| Atyrau | Stoycho Mladenov | Zhasur Narzikulov | Adidas | — |
| Irtysh | Dimitar Dimitrov | David Loria | Nike | ENRC |
| Kairat |  Kakhaber Tskhadadze | Bauyrzhan Islamkhan | Nike | Expo 2017 |
| Okzhetpes | Vladimir Mukhanov | Alibek Buleshev | Adidas | Chempionat |
| Ordabasy | Bakhtiyar Bayseitov | Azat Nurgaliev | Adidas | TAU |
| Shakhter | Aleksei Yeryomenko | Maksat Baizhanov | Adidas | — |
| Taraz |  Yuriy Maksymov | Dmitri Yevstigneyev | Adidas | — |
| Tobol | Omari Tetradze | Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev | Adidas | — |
| Zhetysu | Almas Kulshinbaev | Andrey Pasechenko | Adidas | — |
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 |  Lassina Dao | Kouassi Kouadja | Nikita Bocharov | Dmitry Golubov | Marat Sitdikov | Sandro Tsveiba | Vuk Mitošević | Ilya Mikhalyov |
| Akzhayik |  Saša Kolunija |  Matías Rubio |  Michael Odibe |  Freddy Coronel | Miroslav Lečić | Danilo Nikolić | Srđan Ostojić | Predrag Govedarica |
| Astana |  Igor Shitov | Marin Aničić |  Roger Cañas |  Junior Kabananga |  Patrick Twumasi |  Agim Ibraimi | Đorđe Despotović | Nemanja Maksimović |
| Atyrau | Aleksandr Makas |  Guy Essame | Abdel Lamanje | Aleksandar Damčevski |  Przemysław Trytko |  Alexandru Curtean | Volodymyr Arzhanov | Vyacheslav Sharpar |
| Irtysh | Semir Kerla | Ignacio Herrera |  Tomáš Jirsák |  Ousman Jallow |  Georgas Freidgeimas |  Carlos Fonseca |  Djiby Fall | |
| Kairat |  Isael | Léandre Tawamba | Gerson Acevedo | Gerard Gohou | Andrey Arshavin | Žarko Marković |  César Arzo | Anatoliy Tymoshchuk |
| Okzhetpes | Joseph Nane | Serge Bando N'Ganbe | Nicolás Canales | Daniil Chertov | Vitali Volkov | Risto Ristović | Saša Stamenković | Oleksandr Chyzhov |
| Ordabasy |  Edin Junuzović | Gogita Gogua |  Filip Kasalica | Dominic Chatto | Abdoulaye Diakate | Aleksandar Simčević | Branislav Trajković |  Alexander Geynrikh |
| Shakhter |  Robert Arzumanyan | Ivan Sadownichy | Nikola Vasiljević | Marko Simonovski |  Desley Ubbink |  Filip Serečin | Július Szöke | Štefan Zošák |
| Taraz | Ioan Mera | Anton Grigoryev | Malick Mané |  Davron Ergashev | Oleksandr Aliyev | Oleksandr Pyschur | Andriy Yakovlyev | |
| Tobol |  Tomáš Šimkovič |  Fernander Kassaï | Denis Glavina | Artūras Žulpa | Dušan Savić | Ciprian Deac | Shamil Asildarov | Serhiy Yavorskyi |
| Zhetysu | Narek Beglaryan | Martin Klein |  Mamadou Wague | Marko Đalović |  Dejan Djermanović | Artem Kasyanov |
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.
Managerial changes
Regular season
In the regular season twelve teams played each other home-and-away in a round-robin format for a total of 22 matches per team. The top six teams advanced to the Championship round and the bottom six teams qualified for the Relegation round.Regular season table
Regular season results
Championship round
The top six teams from the regular season will participate in the Championship round where they will play each other home-and-away in a round-robin format for a total of 10 matches per team. In contrast to the previous season, teams will carry forward their entire regular season record, with no halving of points. After completion of the Championship round the winners will be the Champions of 2016 Kazakhstan Premier League and qualify for 2017–18 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. The runners-up and third-placed team will qualify for Europa League first qualifying round and the fourth-placed team will also qualify for Europa League because one of the top three teams will win the 2016 Kazakhstan Cup.Championship round table
Championship round results
Relegation round
The worst six teams from the regular season participated in the Relegation round where they played each other home-and-away in a round-robin format for a total of 10 matches per team. In contrast to the previous season, teams carried forward their entire regular season record, with no halving of points. After completion of the Relegation round the winners are considered the 7th-placed team of 2016 Kazakhstan Premier League, the runners-up being 8th and so on, with the last team being 12th. The 11th-placed team, Taraz, qualified for the relegation play-off against Altai Semey, the runners-up of 2016 Kazakhstan First Division, with the losing team being eliminated, and the 12th-placed team, Zhetysu, will be directly relegated to 2017 Kazakhstan First Division as the last-placed placed team.Relegation round table
Relegation round results
Relegation play-offs
Altai Semey are promoted to the 2017 Kazakhstan Premier League; Taraz are relegated to the 2017 Kazakhstan First Division.Statistics
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Gerard Gohou | Kairat | 22 |
| 2 | Roman Murtazayev | Irtysh Pavlodar | 18 |
| 3 | Bauyrzhan Islamkhan | Kairat | 17 |
| 4 | Malick Mané | Taraz | 13 |
| 5 | Dušan Savić | Zhetysu | 12 |
| 5 | Azat Nurgaliev | Ordabasy/Astana | 12 |
| 7 | Sergei Khizhnichenko | Tobol | 10 |
| 7 | Alexander Geynrikh | Ordabasy | 10 |
| 9 | Serge Bando N'Ganbe | Okzhetpes | 9 |
| 10 | Marat Khairullin | Okzhetpes | 8 |
| 10 | Đorđe Despotović | Astana | 8 |
| 10 | Andrey Arshavin | Kairat | 8 |
| 10 | Volodymyr Arzhanov | Atyrau | 8 |
| 10 | Tomáš Šimkovič | Tobol | 8 |
| 10 | Freddy Coronel | Akzhayik | 8 |
Hat-tricks
Scoring
- First goal of the season: Ulan Konysbayev for Atyrau against Zhetysu
- Fastest goal of the season: 1st minute,
- *Raul Jalilov for Tobol against Zhetysu
- Latest goal of the season: 90+4th minute,
- *Alassane N'Diaye for Tobol against Taraz
- *Marat Khairullin for Okzhetpes against Zhetysu