Marked for Mahmud Jo'raboyev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Qizilqum is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mahmud Jo'raboyev and Qizilqum agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Masaki Okino falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match5 Sep 2026
Three points for Qizilqum, 2‑1 the final word against Navbahor in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Grigol Chabradze, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $240.0K sale of Mahmud Jo'raboyev
He is going to Qizilqum, the club has $240.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mashal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Suhrobjon Parmonqulov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mashal the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Mashal
Raphael Ayagwa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market31 Aug 2026
Qizilqum pay $240.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market31 Aug 2026
Shortan paid $80.0K and Mashal took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Mashal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadali Aliqulov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match29 Aug 2026
Bunyodkor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Qizilqum can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ilhomjon Kenjayev has agreed terms with AGMK for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Market31 Aug 2026
The chase for Mahmud Jo'raboyev ended with $240.0K changing hands and Mashal out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Farhod Rahmatov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Mahmud Jo'raboyev from Mashal for $240.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Masaki Okino is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Bukhara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.