Timur Kapadze explained his reasons for leaving the Uzbekistan national football team

The former head coach of the Uzbekistan national football team, former assistant coach Timur Kapadze, spoke about the reasons for his departure, UzA reports.

As Timur Kapadze said, the decision to leave the headquarters was not easy for him.

I thought a lot. Of course, there is a world championship ahead. To qualify for the World Cup and participate in it was, of course, the desire of each of us. But I thought it over, weighed it all, because a new coach came anyway. He could have stayed at his headquarters, but it would still have caused some discomfort.

After all, I was also the coach of this team, I performed these duties. And to some extent, this could have created inconvenience — to avoid any influence on him, I decided otherwise. This also played a role in my decision, — Kapadze said.

At the same time, the ex-coach has no plans to end his career, he wants to continue working as an independent specialist.

In general, I myself am the head coach and I want to work independently, because I have my own vision, my own ideas, my own views. Therefore, I chose the path where I can lead a team and achieve new goals together with it. I think there shouldn’t be any problems here.

At the same time, he remains devoted to the national team and wishes them success under the new coach:

The national team is always in our hearts, it is always above all, and we always wish it good luck. The new coach is a good specialist, I think everything should turn out well. And we will continue our journey.

Speaking about possible offers from abroad, Kapadze denied rumors about contacts with Kazakhstan, but confirmed that other countries are showing interest in his candidacy.

As for Indonesia — this process is being considered there. Work is also underway with Turkey and China. Whether all this is being implemented or not — time will tell. It’s difficult to say anything specific now. If fate allows, we will go and work. Or maybe I’ll stay in my homeland and continue working here. Therefore, it’s difficult to say anything in advance, as the process is ongoing.

As a reminder, on November 9th, Uzbekistan national team assistant coach Timur Kapadze requested his release from his position, expressing his desire to continue his career at a new level.

Timur Kapadze was appointed acting head coach of the Uzbekistan national team in January 2025. Under his leadership, the team defeated Kyrgyzstan (1:0) in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, drew with Iran (2:2) and the UAE (0:0), securing their first-ever World Cup qualification.