Guram Kashia
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 Kashia in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 4 July 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Slovan Bratislava | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2006 | Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2010 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 91 | (12) |
| 2010–2018 | Vitesse | 250 | (22) |
| 2018–2020 | San Jose Earthquakes | 44 | (0) |
| 2021 | Locomotive Tbilisi | 16 | (4) |
| 2021– | Slovan Bratislava | 109 | (9) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007–2009 | Georgia U21 | 10 | (2) |
| 2009– | Georgia | 127 | (3) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:05, 22 March 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:21, 15 November 2025 (UTC) | |||
Guram Kashia (Order of Honor) (Georgian: გურამ კაშია, romanized: guram k'ashia, pronounced [ɡuɾam kʼaʃia]; born 4 July 1987) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Niké Liga club Slovan Bratislava and the Georgia national team.[2]
Developed at Dinamo Tbilisi, Kashia spent most of his career at Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse, where he was captain. In the Netherlands for eight years, he played 292 official matches (24 goals) and won the KNVB Cup in 2017. Kashia is the Georgia national team’s most capped player.
Early career and MLS
Kashia began his career in Dinamo Tbilisi.[3] He signed for Dutch club Vitesse in 2010 to become a regular member of the starting line-up of the club. Kashia was named club captain two years later. During his career at Vitesse, He amassed a total of 292 matches.[4] In August 2015, Kashia was named Best Player of August in Eredivisie.[5]
Kashia led Vitesse to the domestic KNVB Cup in 2016–17, starting all except one of their six games and recording a goal and an assist.[citation needed] In his five starts, the club defeated their opponents 12–2, including a 2–0 victory against eventual league champions Feyenoord Rotterdam in the quarterfinals.[citation needed] In October 2017, Kashia wore a rainbow-striped captain's armband for Vitesse against Heracles Almelo in support of LGBT rights, leading to a backlash in his own country and calls for him to step down from the Georgian national team.[6] His name was also transliterated as Goeram Kasjia in Dutch.[7]
On 14 June 2018, Kashia joined Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes on a multi-year[specify] contract,[8] joining compatriot and close friend Valeri Qazaishvili.[2] The club rejected its contract extension with Kashia following their 2020 season.[9]
Locomotive Tbilisi and Slovan Bratislava
Kashia transferred to Locomotive Tbilisi in 2021 before moving to Slovan Bratislava later the same year.[10] He was a regular squad member of the team which continued winning the Slovak First Football League title. Kashia's contribution three times in a row led him to receive Team of the Season award.[11][12] He signed a new year-long contract with Slovan on 27 June 2024.[13]
International career
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Kashia debuted for Georgia on 1 April 2009 in an exhibition game against Montenegro.[14] In October 2012, he scored Georgia's only goal against Finland in a 2014 World Cup qualification.[15]
Kashia was named Georgian Footballer of the Year twice, in 2012 and in 2013.[16] As of 14 June 2018[update], he is captain of his national football team.[2] On 26 September 2022, Kashia played his 100th match for Georgia in the Nations League game against Gibraltar.[17] He is the most-capped Georgian footballer of all time.[18]
Kashia took part in all of Georgia's matches in both the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying stages and Euro 2024 championship completely. He received the Order of Honour with the squad the same year on 2 July.[19]
Personal life
Kashia married his wife Tamtuka in 2009, and their daughter Alessandra was born in 2013.[14] His older brother Shota is also a professional footballer and has played at Georgian Erovnuli Liga club FC Chikhura Sachkhere since 2013; both brothers wear #37 for their clubs.[20] Kashia has stated that his older brother is the reason he began playing football as a child.[21]
While playing for Vitesse in 2017, Kashia wore a rainbow armband as part of the Dutch initiative Coming Out Day. His show of support for gay rights led to protests outside the Georgian Football Federation's headquarters demanding his removal from the national team, at which eight people were arrested. He described himself as being "proud to support equal rights".[22] In August 2018, he became the inaugural recipient of UEFA's #EqualGame award for his pro-LGBT rights stand.[23] He did not attend the awards ceremony in Monaco due to his club commitments with San Jose, but submitted a video acceptance speech in which he said: "I believe in equality for everyone, no matter what you believe in, who you love or who you are...I will always keep defending equality and equal rights for everyone, wherever I will play."[24] In December 2018, Kashia received the Presidential Order of Excellence from Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili.[25]
Kashia is outspoken about the ongoing illegal Russian occupation of Georgia following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.[26][unreliable source?] He obtained his U.S. green card in July 2019, qualifying him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[27]
