Saturday, 20, October, 2018

Sports

Two goals from Morteza Tabrizi and Mohammad Reza Hosseini saw Islamic Republic of Iran's Zobahan clinch a 2-0 home win over Uzbekistan's Lokomotiv in their 2018 AFC Champions League Group B game on Monday.

Iran’s Persepolis were in a class of their own at Azadi stadium as they defeated Uzbek FC Nasaf to open their 2018 AFC Champions League Group C campaign on a high note on Tuesday.

Tashkent-based Lokomotiv began their 2018 AFC Champions League campaign in style after it thrashed Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates 5-0 win at home in their Group B opener on Monday.

The iconic FIFA World Cup Trophy made a stop in Uzbekistan today on its global tour ahead of the World Cup in Russia later this year. Christian Karembeu, a member of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup, and Uzbekistan Football Association vice-president Umid Ahmadjonov unveiled the trophy in front of invited guests.

Qatar's Al Gharafa scored twice in the first half before holding on to confirm a place in the 2018 AFC Champions League group stage with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor in the play-off on Tuesday. After a cagey start to the game, the hosts had a chance to take the lead 20 minutes in, when Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi was fouled in the box by Pakhtakor defender Marko Simic.

Two headed goals either side of the half-time break laid the foundation for an emphatic 5-1 victory for Nasaf Qarshi over Al Faisaly as the Uzbek side booked their place in the group stage of the 2018 AFC Champions League.

Gafur Rakhimov became Interim President of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA). Rakhimov, vice-president of AIBA, a 66-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan, was appointed new Interim president on Saturday, January 27, at an extraordinary congress in Dubai (UAE). He will be replaced by Franco Falcinelli, who worked in this position since November last year. The permanent president of AIBA will be elected at the congress of the association in November 2018 in Moscow.

Pakhtakor FC announced the transfer of Portuguese striker Esmaël Gonçalves, 26, on a two-year deal, the club said. Esmaël Gonçalves started in youth team of Portuguese Boavista. He played in Nice (France), St. Mirren (Scotland), APOEL (Cyprus), Veria (Greece), Anorthosis (Cyprus), Al-Ittifaq (Saudi Arabia) and Hearts (Scotland).

Substitute Andrey Sidorov struck in the final minute of extra-time to help Uzbekistan seal the AFC U23 Championship China 2018 title with a narrow 2-1 win over Vietnam on Saturday.

The Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) held an extraordinary election meeting today, in which First Deputy PM/Chairman of Uzbekistan Railways Achilbay Ramatov was elected as the new president of the UFF.