Dinamo Samarkand’s summer overhaul made an immediate impact as Vadim Abramov’s side returned with victory. Just months earlier, the club had looked on the brink, with unpaid wages, a FIFA complaint and the departure of every foreign signing.
Last winter, Dinamo Samarkand looked like one of the Uzbek Super League’s most ambitious projects. Having retained iconic head coach Vadim Abramov, who guided the club to promotion in 2023, Dinamo filled all six foreign-player slots and were tasked by the regional authorities with challenging for both the league’s medal places and the Uzbekistan Cup.
Within a matter of months, however, almost nothing remained of the squad that had been assembled. Payments were delayed for around six months, the foreign players departed, at least one reportedly submitted a complaint to FIFA, and Dinamo slipped towards the relegation zone.
The club used the summer break to carry out a complete reset. Dinamo appointed a new general director, brought in five new foreign players and persuaded several leading Uzbek members of the squad to remain. Their first match after the league resumed ended in a 2-1 away victory over Qizilqum.
That result offers some cautious encouragement that the worst stage of the crisis may have passed, although the club has yet to announce that its outstanding debts have been fully settled.
From ambition to crisis
The foundations for greater expectations had been laid during the previous season. Dinamo finished fourth in 2025, recording their best league position in 25 years.
The Samarkand side remained in contention for a medal until the closing rounds and finished behind only Neftchi, Pakhtakor and Nasaf, all of whom possessed greater financial resources and deeper squads.
At the club’s presentation in February, Samarkand regional governor Adiz Boboyev set Dinamo the target of finishing among the Super League’s top three and competing successfully in the cup. The authorities also promised to begin construction of a new stadium should the club win the championship.
A squad built to challenge
Dinamo subsequently launched an eye-catching recruitment campaign.
Slovenian midfielder Til Mavretič arrived from FCI Levadia after making more than 100 competitive appearances for the Estonian club. He had captained the side, won both the league and cup, and featured in European competition.
Another high-profile addition was Ghanaian midfielder Kingsley Sarfo, formerly of Malmö in Sweden and APOEL in Cyprus, who also had experience with the Ghana national team.
Dinamo also signed Paris Saint-Germain academy graduate Mahamadou Dembélé. The French defender had represented his country at youth level, been contracted to Salzburg, played in Ligue 2 with Pau and later continued his career in Belgium and Albania.
They were joined by Burkina Faso international Dramane Salou, Argentine defender Salvador Sánchez and Uruguayan centre-back Mauro Brasil, who had previously played in Mexico and Chile.
On paper, it was an impressive foreign group for a club that had been competing in the Pro League only a few years earlier. Dinamo also added Nurillo Tukhtasinov and World Cup participant Azizbek Amonov as they looked to build on the previous season’s success.
Financial problems take hold
The sporting project, however, soon collided with financial reality.
In March, Abramov publicly revealed that the squad had not been receiving its salaries. According to Fergana, payments had stopped as early as December 2025.
Players who had remained in Samarkand from the previous season had been waiting several months for their money, while some of the winter arrivals had reportedly not received a single salary.
By the beginning of the summer, the delay had reached approximately six months…
The lack of payments soon began to affect both results and the atmosphere within the squad. Abramov admitted that players were worrying about their families, losing motivation and beginning to look for a way out.
The most high-profile departure was Brasil. The Uruguayan made just two league appearances before leaving the team and returning home. As previously reported by Eurasia Football, the defender lodged a complaint with FIFA over the club’s failure to meet its contractual obligations.
By that stage, Dinamo had begun to repay part of the outstanding debt, but were still unable to settle fully with the players. In July, Brasil continued his career with Uruguayan side Danubio.
The squad falls apart
The rest of the winter foreign signings gradually followed him out of Samarkand. By the summer break, Dinamo had parted company with the entire group: Mavretič, Sarfo, Dembélé, Salou, Sánchez and Brasil. All six foreign-player slots filled before the season had become vacant within a matter of months.
At the same time, the club’s stated sporting objectives were slipping away. Dinamo collected just 11 points from their opening 11 league matches and fell into the lower reaches of the table.
Their Uzbekistan Cup campaign also ended in disappointment. They lost 3-2 to Gazalkent, drew 2-2 with Lokomotiv and defeated Lochin 4-2. Four points were not enough to progress from the group, with Lokomotiv advancing on the tie-break criteria.
One of the club’s two major pre-season targets had therefore disappeared by May, while talk of challenging for the medal places no longer reflected Dinamo’s position in the league.
A new director and another rebuild
Change began at boardroom level. On 27 June, 29-year-old Anvar Nosirov was appointed acting general director. His predecessor, Shukhrat Ruziev, moved into the role of vice-president of the Samarkand regional football association.
Nosirov is already well known in local football through his work with Sherdor. He represented the club as a player, worked with its youth academy and later became the owner and head of the private football project.
Sherdor’s senior side competes in the First League, Uzbekistan’s third tier, while the club also operates a network of children’s schools and is developing its own player-development pathway.
Under the new director, Dinamo quickly assembled an entirely different group of foreign players.
Serbian midfielder Marko Stanojević, 38, returned to Samarkand, already familiar to both Abramov and the Uzbek championship. Central defender Mihail Ștefan arrived from Moldovan side Zimbru, while Bosnian midfielder Haris Hajdarević and 23-year-old Guinean Amadou Doumbouya also joined the squad.
The fifth foreign arrival was 21-year-old Russian defender Artem Radaev, who signed a contract until the end of the season. He came through the Krylia Sovetov Samara system but has very little experience at a high senior level.
His signing therefore raised an understandable question from Eurasia Football. Abramov responded: “We will see how he performs. We needed a defender and we have filled the position.”
Another arrival was 19-year-old Raul Djeparov, the son of two-time Asian Footballer of the Year Server Djeparov. The young midfielder joined on loan from Bunyodkor and was immediately handed a place in the starting line-up.
Perhaps the most important outcome of Dinamo’s summer work, however, was retaining Firdavs Abdurakhmonov and Anvar Khojimirzaev with nine goals between them. Both had attracted interest from other Super League clubs but chose to remain in Samarkand.
Dinamo also kept Azizbek Amonov, who returned to the club following the World Cup.
A winning return, but questions remain
It was the established leaders who delivered victory in the first match after the break. Away to Qizilqum, Abdurakhmonov opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Khojimirzaev added a second seven minutes later.
The hosts pulled one back through a Hajdarević own goal, but Dinamo held on for a 2-1 victory.
Among the summer signings, Ștefan, Stanojević, Hajdarević and Djeparov all started, while Doumbouya came on during the second half. Radaev was not included in the matchday squad.
After 12 matches, Dinamo sit 11th in the Super League with four wins, two draws, six defeats and 14 points. They are just one point above the relegation zone, meaning the club remains firmly involved in the battle for survival. However, the league table is so tightly packed that a positive run of results could quickly lift Abramov’s side into mid-table.
Dinamo are also expected to lose Jahongir Urozov. During the winter, the club hoped to receive around €1 million for the left-footed Uzbekistan international amid interest from Borussia Mönchengladbach and several other European clubs.
Now, however, Rubin Kazan has emerged as the most likely destination, with the transfer fee expected to fall below the previously reported figure.
Urozov did not feature in the victory over Qizilqum. After the match, Abramov confirmed his absence was due to ongoing transfer negotiations.
“We have received an official offer and have already agreed a transfer fee with Rubin. The player now only has to agree personal terms.”
It is still too early to say Dinamo’s financial problems have been fully resolved. The club has yet to publicly confirm that all outstanding wages owed to players and staff have been paid.
Nevertheless, since Nosirov’s appointment, Dinamo have completed a comprehensive summer recruitment drive, retained several of their most sought-after players and restarted the season with victory. While questions remain, it appears the club’s financial situation has at least stabilised enough to allow the campaign to continue.