From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Andijon, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market23 Aug 2027
“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 Aug 2027
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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
No thanks: Cherno Saho rejects the move
Qizilqum had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at HNK Rijeka, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Qizilqum asked and Al-Orobah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islom Kenjaboyev, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Qizilqum had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bunyodkor, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Qizilqum asked and Al Ain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match14 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Asror G'ofurov 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.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Jaloliddin Hasanov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Al-Orobah have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Qizilqum had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Navbahor, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Roman Paparyga
16 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Farhod Rahmatov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Qizilqum asked and Al-Ta'ee said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Roman Paparyga was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samandar Shukurullayev, and the manager let it.
Market9 Aug 2027
“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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Bunyodkor have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout2 Aug 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Suhrob Eshboyev: 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.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Qizilqum had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Zenit, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Roman Paparyga
15 goals and a season average of 7.27 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Farhod Rahmatov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Qizilqum asked and Navbahor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Jul 2027
Chastening afternoon for Qizilqum
A 0‑3 beating by AGMK was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market26 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Suhrob Eshboyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PAOK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Orobah have kept their man, and Qizilqum go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Asror G'ofurov 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jaloliddin Hasanov after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jul 2027
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Murodali Usmonov: 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.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Qizilqum offered $100.0K; Mashal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad19 Jul 2027
14 goals and a season average of 7.25. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Jul 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Roman Paparyga’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Qizilqum.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“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
Steady
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The offer went to Mashal this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Andijon have kept their man, and Qizilqum go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market12 Jul 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdulla Komilov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market12 Jul 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sardor Akhmedov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Jul 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eldor Akhmedov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market12 Jul 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sardor Nematov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Jul 2027
Qizilqum throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Sogdiana the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Qizilqum will enjoy reviewing.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A season average of 7.22 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mahmud Jo'raboyev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Asror G'ofurov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Jul 2027
3‑3, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Qizilqum have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
In brief
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Player ratings
Roman Paparyga gives it away
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Boardroom
Intake day at the Qizilqum academy
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Jun 2027
Qizilqum say no — this time
The offer from Nasaf for Roman Paparyga 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.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.03, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market28 Jun 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The offer went to Mashal this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match26 Jun 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jaba Jighauri. 2‑1 against Nasaf, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Roman Paparyga
11 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Mahmud Jo'raboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Qizilqum offered $100.0K; Mashal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
0‑1 to Metallurg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“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.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Jun 2027
Mashal will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Qizilqum were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad14 Jun 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$100.0K on the table at Mashal. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Nikola Kumburović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Roman Paparyga was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.79. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Qizilqum asked and Nasaf said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
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Squad
Asror G'ofurov falls out with a teammate over standards
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Match
The half-term report on Qizilqum
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Jun 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Ninety minutes of Roman Paparyga at his very best
Marked 9.81. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Match5 Jun 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Roman Paparyga. 3‑2 against Shortan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Jaloliddin Hasanov on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Farhod Rahmatov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 May 2027
Mirzo Ismailov damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Suhrob Eshboyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 May 2027
Roman Paparyga scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Obod, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammadaziz Ibrohimov 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Farhod Rahmatov
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
One booking too many, and Nikola Kumburović sits out. Qizilqum lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 May 2027
Mirzo Ismailov damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match22 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Asror G'ofurov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 May 2027
“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.
The dugout24 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jaloliddin Hasanov after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout24 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
Mirzo Ismailov damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Oleksiy Shchebetun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces17 May 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match15 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mahmud Jo'raboyev. 1‑0 against Bukhara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
The dugout17 May 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Jaloliddin Hasanov could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mirzo Ismailov
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 May 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match8 May 2027
The drought breaks for Qizilqum
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Andijon were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Roman Paparyga was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.77. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match8 May 2027
Three points for Qizilqum, 3‑2 the final word against Andijon in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad10 May 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Oleksiy Shchebetun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Match8 May 2027
Qizilqum settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Andijon spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mirzo Ismailov
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match1 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Qizilqum
1‑4 against Pakhtakor, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match1 May 2027
8 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
The dugout3 May 2027
“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.
Market3 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Mahmud Jo'raboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Asror G'ofurov 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.
Squad3 May 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Nobody left the Qizilqum dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
Mirzo Ismailov damages knee ligaments — 55 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 55 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
7 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Mahmud Jo'raboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.99 on the card, and the Qizilqum support went home talking about one name.
Match24 Apr 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Kokand 1912 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Jaloliddin Hasanov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mirzo Ismailov
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match17 Apr 2027
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhammadaziz Ibrohimov, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mirzo Ismailov
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Qizilqum
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market12 Apr 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ulugbek Tukhtasinov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market12 Apr 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ulugbek Suyunov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Asror G'ofurov 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Farhod Rahmatov: 4 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match31 Mar 2027
The cup run ends for Qizilqum
1‑1 against AGMK, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market5 Apr 2027
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.
Match3 Apr 2027
4 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Match31 Mar 2027
Qizilqum rescue it on 121 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 121. AGMK had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match3 Apr 2027
A goal on 91 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Oleksiy Shchebetun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match27 Mar 2027
Neftchi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jaloliddin Hasanov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleksiy Shchebetun signs something — a contract at Qizilqum or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Qizilqum have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match20 Mar 2027
Whatever happens, Qizilqum do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match20 Mar 2027
The run is over for Qizilqum
5 matches without defeat, and then Sogdiana. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Asror G'ofurov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Jaloliddin Hasanov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match20 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Sogdiana will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad15 Mar 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match13 Mar 2027
Qizilqum cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Mahmud Jo'raboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Three points for Qizilqum, 1‑0 the final word against Nasaf in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Jaloliddin Hasanov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Murodali Usmonov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. 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
Triumph
Match6 Mar 2027
Qizilqum cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market8 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Suhrob Eshboyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jaba Jighauri and Qizilqum agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Nikola Kumburović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mahmud Jo'raboyev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match6 Mar 2027
Qizilqum are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Match6 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oleksiy Shchebetun. 1‑0 against Metallurg, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad8 Mar 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Qizilqum
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Player ratings
Nobody on the pitch touched Oleksiy Shchebetun
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Asror G'ofurov 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.
Looking ahead1 Mar 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Metallurg in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Oleksiy Shchebetun keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Qizilqum know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asror G'ofurov 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Ilhomjon Vahobov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Akmaljon Muzaffarov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Qizilqum would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Qizilqum close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sepahan have kept their man, and Qizilqum go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Shahzod Turopov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Humoyunshoh Sayyotov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Trabzonspor have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Nasaf: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Oleksiy Shchebetun keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
Obod come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Qizilqum did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Murodali Usmonov has come up in conversations Qizilqum were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Asror G'ofurov 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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Qizilqum know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The training reports on Oleksiy Shchebetun are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market11 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Suhrob Eshboyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market11 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdulla Tukhtasinov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Basaksehir have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Ilhomjon Vahobov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Qizilqum will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Jan 2027
Nasaf come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Qizilqum did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleksiy Shchebetun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Qizilqum have made the call to Mashal. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Al Shabab: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Open for business: Qizilqum enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Qizilqum. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market4 Jan 2027
No fee and no fanfare: Ilhomjon Kenjayev’s time at Qizilqum ends with a handshake, and Nasaf collect a player for the price of his wages. Somebody will call it shrewd; time will name who.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asror G'ofurov 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 107% of the Qizilqum income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Market28 Dec 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Qizilqum will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Qizilqum have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleksiy Shchebetun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Shahzod Turopov 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 dugout21 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nikola Kumburović damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Oleksiy Shchebetun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jasur Ganiev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Ilhomjon Vahobov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bobomurod Bozorov 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Humoyunshoh Sayyotov, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Qizilqum, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nikola Kumburović damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islom Kenjaboyev, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleksiy Shchebetun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Akmaljon Muzaffarov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Paparyga signs something — a contract at Qizilqum or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shahzod Turopov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nikola Kumburović damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Qizilqum may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dostonbek Shomurodov 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Timur Ganiev
“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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
123% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
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
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alisher Shukurov 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market16 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Suhrob Eshboyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Qizilqum the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 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 Qizilqum this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Qizilqum lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Islom Kenjaboyev 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Timur Masharipov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
Nikola Kumburović damages knee ligaments — 63 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
123% of the income goes out in wages at Qizilqum
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
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.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bobomurod Bozorov 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
The name of Oleksiy Shchebetun keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Qizilqum say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Kumburović
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Qizilqum lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout26 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Oleksiy Shchebetun 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
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Qizilqum lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dostonbek Shomurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dostonbek Shomurodov, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Shahzod Turopov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Qizilqum lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Oleksiy Shchebetun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eldor Ismailov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alisher Shukurov 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Suhrob Eshboyev, and the manager let it.
Market12 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Paparyga signs something — a contract at Qizilqum or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nikola Kumburović damages knee ligaments — 93 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 176% of everything Qizilqum earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleksiy Shchebetun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Qizilqum prefer.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Timur Ganiev knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Timur Ganiev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad28 Sep 2026
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Qizilqum lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match26 Sep 2026
Qizilqum make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Qizilqum have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Oleksiy Shchebetun’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Qizilqum.
Match26 Sep 2026
Qizilqum keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Qizilqum are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Jaloliddin Hasanov could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
Nikola Kumburović damages knee ligaments — 108 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market21 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Tobol moved on, Farhod Rahmatov reports back to Qizilqum, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market21 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Nikola Kumburović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match19 Sep 2026
Shortan made Qizilqum work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A touch he did not mean and a goal that goes in the book with his name against it. Qizilqum will not blame him tonight and he will not need them to.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Jaloliddin Hasanov on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikola Kumburović damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Roman Paparyga takes the afternoon — 9.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Roman Paparyga provided it, and the 9.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market14 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market14 Sep 2026
The Obod deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ilhomjon Kenjayev reports back to Qizilqum with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match12 Sep 2026
Obod made Qizilqum work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.84, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Farhod Fayzullaev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Navbahor, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market7 Sep 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Qizilqum have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Qizilqum until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market7 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Everything agreed with Mashal, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Qizilqum had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sogdiana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market7 Sep 2026
The phone has started ringing about Farhod Rahmatov again, and this time the name on the line is Tobol. Qizilqum are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Qizilqum
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Kumburović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
Irtysh come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Qizilqum did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mashal keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Oleksiy Shchebetun’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Qizilqum.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.29. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Qizilqum.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alisher Shukurov 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Sogdiana: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Aug 2026
3‑0, and Shahzod Rahmatullayev took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Qizilqum tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Navbahor had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
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.
Market24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Ilhomjon Vahobov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Shahzod Rahmatullayev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Oleksiy Shchebetun was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.39. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
AGMK ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Qizilqum
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Qizilqum are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Qizilqum
Nikola Kumburović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match15 Aug 2026
Pakhtakor left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Qizilqum asked and Andijon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match15 Aug 2026
Qizilqum are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market17 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Qizilqum will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Oleksiy Shchebetun 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Qizilqum have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Jaba Jighauri, 34, rolls back the years — 8.56
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.56 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market10 Aug 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Qizilqum they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Qizilqum had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sogdiana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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
Nikola Kumburović 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Bobur Masharipov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Timur Ganiev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market3 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 Qizilqum, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jaba Jighauri commits to Qizilqum for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Qizilqum training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Kumburović 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Qizilqum
Islom Kenjaboyev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Lokomotiv, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Suhrob Eshboyev again, and this time the name on the line is Obod. Qizilqum are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Qizilqum, another week without a signature from Jaba Jighauri.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Qizilqum 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.