Levan Kobiashvili ( ka, ლევან კობიაშვილი, born 10 July 1977) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and the current president of the

Georgian Football Federation The Georgian Football Federation ( GFF; ka, საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია, ''sakartvelos pekhburtis pederatsia'') was founded in 1936. Based in Tbilisi, it was part of the Football Fede ...

and a member of

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proportio ...

. He played primarily as a

left wingback In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. During his career, Levan played for Gorda Rustavi,

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2–1 ...

Alania Vladikavkaz FC Alania Vladikavkaz (russian: "Алания" (Владикавказ), os, Футболон клуб "Алани" (Дзæуджыхъæу)) is a Russian football team from Vladikavkaz. Founded in 1921, the club played in the Soviet Top League ...

and three German clubs:

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

and

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. Kobiashvili is the most-capped

player for the local national football team. He won 100 caps for his home country. In October 2015, he was elected president of the

. In 2016, Kobiashvili was elected as a member of

Club career

Early career

Kobiashvili began his career in hometown club Avaza Tbilisi. His first professional club was Gorda Rustavi where he made his debut in the

Umaglesi Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა - lit. National League) is the top division of professional football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football F ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. After spending two years with the

Rustavi Rustavi ( ka, რუსთავი ) is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the region of Kvemo Kartli and southeast of capital Tbilisi. It has a population of 130,100 (2021), making it the fourth most populous city in Georgia. Its economy is ...

-based club, Kobiashvili moved to

in 1995. Under the guidance of famous former player and then-Dinamo coach

David Kipiani David Kipiani ( ka, დავით ყიფიანი; 18 November 1951 – 17 September 2001) was a Georgian football midfielder and manager. Kipiani principally played as a playmaker and is considered one of Georgia's greatest player ...

, Kobiashvili became one of the key players of the club. At the start of the year 1997,

declared their interest in Georgian midfielder. Dinamo Tbilisi let Kobiashvili leave the club on a season long loan deal. Kobiashvili joined a few of his compatriots there, including

Mikheil Ashvetia Mikheil Ashvetia ( ka, მიხეილ აშვეთია; born 10 November 1977) is a Georgian former footballer. He has played mostly in Georgia and Russia, except for a short spell at FC København in 2001–2002 and a recent spell in G ...

Giorgi Gakhokidze Giorgi Gakhokidze ( ka, გიორგი გახოკიძე; born 5 November 1975) is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward for PSV Eindhoven, Maccabi Haifa, FC Twente and Metalurh Donetsk among ...

and

Kakhaber Tskhadadze Kakhaber Tskhadadze ( ka, კახაბერ ცხადაძე; born 7 September 1968) is a Georgian football manager and former player. He is the manager of Kazakhstani club Caspiy. As a player he was defender who notably played in t ...

. He made 21 appearances for the club, scoring five goals in

Russian Top League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

. Kobiashvili played in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

as well, scoring a single goal (against

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced in ...

) in four appearances.

Moving to Germany

After spending a half season on a loan at

, ''Kobi'' signed a deal with the German club in 1998. During his spell with the ''Breisgau-Brasilianer'' ("Breisgau Brazilians"), Kobiashvili became one of the key players of

Volker Finke Volker Finke (born 24 March 1948) is a German football manager. He was the coach of SC Freiburg for 16 years. Coaching career On 6 December 2008, Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds announced they signed a contract with Finke as head coach until ...

's system. He was joined some Georgian players in Germany as well,

Alexander Iashvili Alexandr Iashvili ( ka, ალექსანდრე მამულის ძე იაშვილი; born 23 October 1977) is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early years Born in Tbilisi, Ia ...

and

Levan Tskitishvili Levan Tskitishvili (born 10 October 1976) is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Tbilisi, Tskitishvili started playing for Dinamo Tbilisi in 1994, and in 1998 he was transferred to SC Freiburg, ...

his teammates in Freiburg. SC Freiburg finished sixth in the

2000–01 Bundesliga The 2000–01 Bundesliga was the 38th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 11 August 2000 and ended on 19 May 2001. FC Bayern Munich successfully defended their title after a last-minute Patrik Andersson goal d ...

season which granted them a qualification for

2001–02 UEFA Cup The 2001–02 UEFA Cup was won by Feyenoord at their home ground in the final against Borussia Dortmund. It was the second time they won the competition. Liverpool could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2001–02 U ...

. This was the second time the club has ever participated in a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

tournament. SC Freiburg were eliminated in the third round by the future champions

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

, on a 3–2 aggregate loss. Kobiashvili played all six games of the club during the tournament, scoring the only goal against the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

-based club. Eventually Freiburg got relegated from Bundesliga. Kobiashvili decided to stay at the club and helped team to get another promotion to the top tier again during the following season. He scored ten goals for the club.

Schalke 04

During summer 2003, Kobiashvili's contract with Freiburg expired and he decided to leave the club. He received an offer from the future

winners

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. The coach of the Russian team, Valeri Gazzaev, was interested in signing the Georgian midfielder with whom he worked in Alania five years earlier. However, Kobiashvili decided to stay in Germany and signed a three-year deal with

. Kobiashvili became the starting member of his new club during the first season. Schalke coach

Jupp Heynckes Josef "Jupp" Heynckes (; born 9 May 1945) is a German retired professional footballer and manager. The majority of his player career was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won many nati ...

used him as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Upon the arrival of

Ralf Rangnick Ralf Rangnick (; born 29 June 1958) is a German professional football coach, executive and former player who is currently the manager of the Austria national team. Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a player, a ...

, Kobiashvili was moved back to midfield, becoming one of the key links between Schalke's defence and attack. Two years after joining the

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

-based team, Kobiashvili extended the contract with the club until 2010. Schalke general manager

Rudi Assauer Rudolf "Rudi" Assauer (30 April 1944 – 6 February 2019) was a German football player and executive. After his professional career for Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen, Assauer served as the general manager of FC Schalke 04 for many years ...

declared that Kobiashvili was one of the best signings they had made in the last decade. One of the best games of Kobiashvili's career came against

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

2005–06 UEFA Champions League The 2005–06 UEFA Champions League was the 51st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League and the 14th since it was rebranded from the European Cup in 1992. 74 teams from 50 football associations took p ...

season where he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. Two of them were from

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s. After the game he was praised by the manager

and teammate

Frank Rost Frank Rost (born 30 June 1973) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He comes from a sporting family background; his father Peter won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in handball, and his mother Christi ...

, who labeled Kobiashvili as a true professional, who was an example for them. Later this season, Schalke moved to the

, where the team reached semi-finals and lost to the eventual champions

FC Sevilla Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

. During his career with Schalke, Kobiashvili won three titles: the

DFL-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous B ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. On 20 December 2009, he announced he would be leaving FC Schalke 04 to transfer to

. He joined his new club on 1 January 2010.

Hertha BSC

Kobiashvili completed a move to

in 2010, although the negotiations began a few weeks earlier.

Suspension

During a relegation playoff game against 2. Bundesliga team

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

, Kobiashvili punched referee

Wolfgang Stark Wolfgang Stark (born 20 November 1969) is a German former football referee who is based in Ergolding. He refereed for DJK Altdorf of the Bavarian Football Association. Refereeing career In addition to German domestic competitions, Stark officiat ...

after the final whistle. Hertha lost the playoff 4–3 on aggregate goals and was relegated from the Bundesliga as a result. Kobiashvili was banned for one year, retroactively beginning 16 May 2012. The

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

later reduced Kobiashvili's suspension for seven and a half months, to end 31 December 2012.

International career

In September 1996, Kobiashvili made his debut for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, in a

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. In 2011, Kobiashvili became his country's first 100-cap player and received a special award from the

. That game against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

was the last for Kobiashvili's international career. He is still the most-capped Georgian player. Kobiashvili captained the national team for 16 times and has scored 12 goals during his international career. Two of them were scored in a famous win against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in 2006. Kobiashvili has also scored the winning goal against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier in 2011. Kobiashvili has declared once that the national team was the top priority for him and he dreamed of playing at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

or a

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

. Kobiashvili was named twice

Georgian Footballer of the Year Georgian Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the best Georgian footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, ...

, in 2000 and 2005.

Post-playing career

On 4 October 2015, he was elected president of the

. In 2016, Kobiashvili was elected as a member of

Personal life

Kobiashvili is married to Tamuna Tsuleiskiri. They have two children: Nikoloz (b. 1999) and Salome (b. 2007). Kobiashvili and his fund, called ''Kobi and Friends'' donated 10,000

GEL A gel is a semi-solid that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute cross-linked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state, although the liquid phase may still di ...

in support of the victims of Tbilisi flood in 2015.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kobiashvili goal.''

Honours

Dinamo Tbilisi *

: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98 *

Georgian Cup The Georgian Cup (, ''Sakartvelos tasi'') is the main cup competition in Georgia (country), Georgian football (soccer), football. The competition is a knockout (single elimination) tournament. Soviet era cup winners Previous winners are: * 194 ...

: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 *

Georgian Super Cup The Georgian Super Cup is a competition consisting of a single football match played between the champions of the Erovnuli Liga and the winners of the Georgian Cup. It was first held in 1996. When a club has won both competitions, the Georgian Cu ...

: 1996, 1997 SC Freiburg * 2. Bundesliga: 2002–03 Schalke 04 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

runners-up: 2004–05 *

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kobiashvili, Levan 1977 births Living people German people of Georgian descent Footballers from Tbilisi Footballers from Georgia (country) Association football utility players Association football midfielders Georgia (country) international footballers Russian Premier League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players FC Metalurgi Rustavi players FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Spartak Vladikavkaz players SC Freiburg players FC Schalke 04 players Hertha BSC players FIFA Century Club Expatriate footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Georgia (country) under-21 international footballers Georgia (country) youth international footballers