From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Khalid Butti breaks a bone — 48 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Dec 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Khalid Butti breaks a bone — 55 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match21 Dec 2026
Navbahor are in real trouble now
Position 15, 6 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market21 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Navbahor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Khalid Butti breaks a bone — 62 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Dec 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 The request is on a desk at Navbahor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Dec 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market7 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jaloliddin Sodiqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Navbahor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islombek Mamatkazin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Navbahor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Nov 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Navbahor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Navbahor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cohen Stander 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
181% of the income goes out in wages at Navbahor
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 30 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match23 Nov 2026
Navbahor sink to position 15
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market23 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Javohir Abdujabborov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Navbahor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Nov 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 Navbahor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Navbahor, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 39 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Nov 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 Navbahor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Navbahor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 46 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Nov 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 Navbahor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Cohen Stander 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Navbahor game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Qizilqum runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad9 Nov 2026
O'tkir Yusupov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Navbahor will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 55 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Abbos G'ulomov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Navbahor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market2 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Navbahor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Navbahor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cohen Stander 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
181% of the income goes out in wages at Navbahor
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Alex Fernandes has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Navbahor will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 64 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Husain Norchayev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Navbahor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match26 Oct 2026
Navbahor are in real trouble now
Position 15, 6 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 80 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market12 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jaloliddin Sodiqov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Navbahor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 87 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market5 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Valijon Rahimov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Navbahor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Oct 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Navbahor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Navbahor's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Navbahor has to find a result from somewhere.
Match28 Sep 2026
Navbahor are in real trouble now
Position 15, 6 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market28 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 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 Navbahor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Cohen Stander 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Pakhtakor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
7 new faces, and Navbahor are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Bukhara to sit and watch. I want to come back to Navbahor and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslanbek Jiyanov
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Navbahor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Umar Adhamzoda breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Navbahor's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Navbahor has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market21 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Sep 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Navbahor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cohen Stander 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.
Loan watch21 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Navbahor, and 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslanbek Jiyanov
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Navbahor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Umar Adhamzoda out for 110 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navbahor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Navbahor's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Navbahor has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market14 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 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 Navbahor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Cohen Stander
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ruslanbek Jiyanov damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match5 Sep 2026
6 matches without a win for Navbahor
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Navbahor are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Navbahor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Sep 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Navbahor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cohen Stander 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Navbahor who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Match5 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Qizilqum defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ruslanbek Jiyanov damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Aug 2026
Pakhtakor ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
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 Navbahor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Navbahor
5 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.
Squad31 Aug 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 Navbahor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Navbahor have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ruslanbek Jiyanov damages knee ligaments — 44 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with O'tkir Yusupov: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Navbahor
A 0‑0 win over Bunyodkor, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Navbahor sell a favourite for $440.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Navro'zbek Iminjonov was one of the reasons people came, and $440.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Navbahor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Aug 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Nasaf paid $440.0K and Navbahor took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 45. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ruslanbek Jiyanov damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match12 Aug 2026
Navbahor march on in the cup
Bukhara are out and Navbahor go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Navbahor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Joyce Katulondi has agreed terms with Pakhtakor for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad17 Aug 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 Navbahor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A move Lungisani Mncwabe would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Lungisani Mncwabe is living that version at Navbahor, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Cohen Stander 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islombek Mamatkazin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Navbahor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market10 Aug 2026
Navbahor say no — this time
The offer from Zhetysu for Shukron Yo'ldoshev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad10 Aug 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 Navbahor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market10 Aug 2026
Mashal are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Navbahor will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Dilshodjon Komilov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Match8 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
Astana come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Navbahor did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” O'tkir Yusupov and Navbahor agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
O'tkir Yusupov 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Husain Norchayev 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Neftchi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Doston Abdulxayev has his answer from Navbahor; what he does with it is the next window’s story.