From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Sioni
Varlam Kilasonia 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The fee is $56.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Guria drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Kaplenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market11 Jan 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sioni, another week without a signature from Valery Fedosyuk.
Market11 Jan 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Mohamed Kanté arrives from Dila with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A new face in his position, and Mohamed Kanté suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Sioni have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sioni, another week without a signature from Nikita Kaplenko.
Market4 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Givi Mukbaniani has his answer from Sioni; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Valery Fedosyuk
“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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Felipe Murillo’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market4 Jan 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Luka Gegeshidze leaves Sioni the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
129% of the income goes out in wages at Sioni
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Kuji Beselia
“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
Uneasy
Market21 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gus Hoefsloot commits to Sioni for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Varlam Kilasonia 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maksym Czekała commits to Sioni for another 3 years.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Levan Tsotsonava trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Levan Tsotsonava: 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.” Sioni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Bantu Mzwakali 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 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Valery Fedosyuk and Sioni agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Dachi Tsnobiladze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Varlam Kilasonia 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
171% of the income goes out in wages at Sioni
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Squad
Tornike Dundua gets it from the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tornike Dundua knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sioni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nana-Kofi Donkor, and the manager let it.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Kaplenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sioni may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Kuji Beselia gets it from the manager
“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
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tornike Dundua: 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.” Sioni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Nov 2026
42 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Varlam Kilasonia 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
Market26 Oct 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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Nikita Kaplenko 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.
Squad26 Oct 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 Sioni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Varlam Kilasonia 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adam Huskić and Sioni agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Khvicha Kashia, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
72 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad5 Oct 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
296% of the income goes out in wages at Sioni
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
Market28 Sep 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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.38 on the card, and the Sioni support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Kuji Beselia
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 Sep 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 26 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Varlam Kilasonia 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Sioni against Zugdidi
0‑2 to Zugdidi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Diego Fuentes lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Giorgi Gabedava 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Kaplenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.64 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Nikita Kaplenko 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.
Squad14 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.61 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Sioni had the best player on the pitch.
Market14 Sep 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match12 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Sioni?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Merani? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 19 years old, Nana-Kofi Donkor became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 12. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
Luka Avaliani hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sioni can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Varlam Kilasonia 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 257% of everything Sioni 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bantu Mzwakali. 1‑0 against Saburtalo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Giorgi Ubilava
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Sioni
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.
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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Givi Mukbaniani again, and this time the name on the line is Chikhura. Sioni are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match29 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Sioni's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sioni has to find a result from somewhere.
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.
Squad24 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
Tskhinvali left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valery Fedosyuk, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Luka Avaliani knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sioni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad24 Aug 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sioni has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Diego Fuentes: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Sioni out
Out, 0‑0 to Dila, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 31. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Sioni
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sioni are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Lokomotivi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 24 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market10 Aug 2026
Chikhura come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sioni did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Nikita Kaplenko 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Dila take the points off Sioni
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luka Avaliani, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Sioni will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Varlam Kilasonia commits to Sioni for another 2 years.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Chikhura have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Givi Mukbaniani. The answer from Sioni has not changed — yet.
Squad3 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.