Turkmen FIFA international football referees are taking part in the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Referees Seminar/VAR Course, which is being held in Tashkent from January 20th to 24th. It is worth noting that the referee seminar, which is taking place at the Khusma Hotel in Tashkent, is attended by 23 referees and 2 observers from CAFA member countries. This was reported by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan.

Two Turkmen referees, Resul Mamedov and Arslan Goshshanov, are participating in the seminar. The seminar focused on the changes made by FIFA to the regulations for football competitions, as well as to the VAR system, which will be adopted by CAFA in 2025.

Training and seminars of this kind are very important for referees, as football is constantly evolving, and the rules of the game are periodically updated and modified by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA). Familiarization with the latest changes in the rules and trends in refereeing helps referees maintain a high level of professionalism and ensure fairness and objectivity during matches.

It should be noted that the participation of Turkmen referees in the CAFA seminar contributes not only to their personal professional growth, but also to the overall development of football in Turkmenistan.

For further context, the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is a subdivision and association within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It unites the football federations of Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Guinness Book of World Records has recognized a new achievement: Swedes Emil Ulsson and Fredrik Nilsson, known as the Spin Duo, held the longest continuous table tennis tournament in a basement. It lasted 13 hours, 37 minutes, and 6 seconds, reports United Press International.

According to the established rules, the game must not be interrupted, which meant that snacks had to be eaten and numb hands had to be massaged while simultaneously hitting the ball. To prepare for the challenging tournament, the Spin Duo trained regularly for four months.

According to the newly minted record holders, the most difficult thing was to concentrate so that nothing distracted them and the ball was always in sight. Therefore, most of the game took place in complete silence, although Ulsson and Nilsson's relatives and friends were in the basement for 13 hours.

Eighteen clubs secured their participation in the Champions League playoffs one round before the end of the main stage. The teams ranked from first to eighth will advance directly to the 1/8 finals, and 16 more participants will play in the playoff playoff round, where the teams ranked from ninth to 16th will be seeded. The winners of this round will advance to the 1/8 finals, while the losers will continue the European season in the Europa League.

Before the eighth round, English Liverpool and Spanish Barcelona guaranteed themselves a direct ticket to the 1/8 finals, while English Arsenal and Italian Inter will at least be seeded in the playoff round. Milan, Atalanta, Juventus (all from Italy), Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Borussia (all from Germany), Monaco, Lille, Brest (all from France), and Atletico will also qualify for the playoffs, Real Madrid (both from Spain), Aston Villa (England), Feyenoord (Netherlands) and Celtic (Scotland).

Nine clubs lost their chances for the playoffs and the continuation of the European Cup season: Sturm, Salzburg (both Austria), Bologna (Italy), Sparta (Czech Republic), Leipzig (Germany), Girona (Spain), Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), Slovan (Slovakia) and Young Boys (Switzerland).

All 18 matches of the eighth and final round of the general stage of the Champions League will be held on the night of January 29-30 and will begin simultaneously at 01:00 Ashgabat time.

The Football Association of Uzbekistan (FAA) has announced the early termination of the contract with the head coach of the national team, Srechko Katanets. The Slovenian specialist decided to leave his post for health reasons, stating that in his current condition he could not fully perform his professional duties.

Katanets took over the Uzbek national team in August 2021, signing a four-year contract. Under his leadership, the team successfully competed in the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament, where it currently ranks second in Group A, scoring 13 points and second only to the Iranian national team.

During the work of the Slovenian specialist, the national team of Uzbekistan played three matches against Turkmenistan, winning in all meetings. Two of them were won in the 2026 World Cup qualification with the same score 3:1, and another one with the score 2:0 in the CAFA Nation's Cup tournament.

The FAA has already started searching for a new head coach for the national team. The future mentor will face an important task – to continue the fight to reach the final of the 2026 World Cup, where the top two teams from each of the three Asian qualification groups directly qualify.

Barcelona's footballers achieved a comeback victory over Lisbon's Benfica in the seventh round match of the Champions League main stage. The match, held in the capital of Portugal, ended with a score of 5:4. Benfica led 3:1 and 4:2.

For the home team, Vangelis Pavlidis scored a hat-trick (2nd, 22nd, 30th minutes), and Barcelona's defender Ronald Araújo scored an own goal (68th minute). For the visitors, Robert Lewandowski converted two penalties (13th, 78th minutes), and Raphinha (64th, 90+6 minutes) and Eric García (87th minute) also scored.

Barcelona, with 18 points, is in second place in the Champions League standings and has advanced to the round of 16. Benfica, with 10 points, is in 18th place. In the final round on January 29, Barcelona will host Atalanta from Bergamo, while Benfica will face Juventus in Turin on the same day.

Turkmen MMA fighter Dovletjan Yagshimuradov spoke to Eurasia Review about the importance of sports in strengthening peace. The interview with the famous athlete was conducted by Derya Soysal, an expert at the Belgian Diplomatic World Institute.

Yagshimuradov noted that sports unite people and serve as a way to promote peace. He emphasized that children in Turkmenistan grow up with sports from an early age, which makes it an important part of the country’s culture.

Yagshimuradov, who competes in the light heavyweight category of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and is the current champion, expressed pride in the opportunity to represent Turkmenistan on the world stage. He also called on the younger generation to never give up and believe in their dreams.

On November 29, in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), as part of the regular mixed martial arts tournament PFL World Championship 2024, Dovletjan Yagshimuradov defeated American fighter Impa Kasanganaya in the PFL Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Final and became the first PFL champion in the history of Turkmenistan.

The Galkan Hockey Club of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan has won the national championship title ahead of schedule, becoming the ten-time winner of the national tournament. This result is an absolute achievement – ten wins out of ten possible.

According to the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, the secret of the Galkan team’s success is a combination of experience and the desire to win. The students of Ahmet Gurbanov, the captain of the national team, and Guvanch Jepbarov, a former player of the club, demonstrate a high level of training and determination. Most of the team’s players are also members of the national team.

This season, the main struggle was for second place. In the last round, the Oguzhan team won silver medals, beating Nesil with a score of 8:3. The bronze medals went to the Şir team.

At the award ceremony, the organizers of the championship recognized the best players, all of whom were from the Galkan team: Kerimli Charyev was recognized as the best goalkeeper, Dovlet Hydyrov as the best defender, and Novruz Bayhanov as the best forward.

It should be noted that from February 7 to 15, the IX Asian Winter Games will be held in the Chinese city of Harbin, where the Turkmenistan national hockey team will take part. The Turkmen team Is in Group C, where their opponents will be teams from Hong Kong, India, and Macau.

They will play their first match at the Harbin Ice Hockey Arena on February 4 against Indian athletes. The next day, the Turkmen hockey players will compete against representatives of Macau. The third match will take place on the 9th: the Turkmenistan national team will complete the group stage of the games with a match against the Hong Kong team.

If successful, Turkmenistan will advance to the playoff stage, where it will fight for a spot in the next round.

Russian mixed martial artist (MMA) Islam Makhachev defeated Brazilian Renato Moicano and defended his UFC lightweight title.

The main event of the UFC 311 tournament in Los Angeles ended with Makhachev’s early victory via choke in the first round.

Moicano replaced Arman Tsarukyan, who was supposed to have a rematch with Makhachev, but withdrew from the fight due to back problems that arose during weight loss.

Makhachev now has 27 wins and one loss in MMA. The Russian is ranked first in the UFC regardless of weight categories (P4P), and he defended his lightweight title for a record-breaking fourth time. Moicano now has 20 wins, six losses, and one draw in MMA.

Turkmen football club Shagadam and Kyrgyz Dordoi will play a match in the playoffs of the qualifying round of the new CAFA Silk Way Cup club tournament on February 23, 2025. This is reported by the TM News telegram channel. The venue of the meeting has not yet been determined.

The winner of this contest will have the opportunity to compete for participation in the main stage of the tournament, where one team from six countries has already secured a place.: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan (presumably "Altyn Asyr"), Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

Notably, Shagadam, led by 74-year-old specialist Ali Gurbani, is actively preparing for the upcoming match. The club from the city of Turkmenbashi, which took the fourth place in the last season of the championship of Turkmenistan, has already strengthened the squad with new players.

According to the Turkmen press, the Shagadam squad was joined by goalkeeper Gurban Garayev (from Arkadag), Ashir Dzhumadurdiyev (from Nebitchi), Suleiman Mirzoev (from Kopetdag), Azizbek Bekjanov (from Akhal).

The first-ever CAFA Silk Way Cup tournament will be held at the end of April 2025 in a centralized format. Eight teams will participate in the group stage, divided into two groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the playoffs of the tournament.

The Turkmenistan women’s futsal team defeated the Kuwait team with a score of 4:3 in the third round of the 2025 Asian Cup qualification. The match took place as part of the group stage in Tashkent, where all Group C games are held.

Pervana Kurbanova scored a double for the winners, while Maria Charyeva and Suray Mammetsahedova also scored a goal each.

For Kamil Mingazov’s team, this was the first victory in the qualifying tournament after two defeats – from Australia (1:6) and the Philippines (0:2).

The Turkmen team will play its next match against the hosts of the tournament – the Uzbekistan team. 

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO Dana White said that Russian fighter Arman Tsarukyan will be replaced by Brazilian Renato Moicano in the fight against Islam Makhachev.

The UFC 311 tournament will take place in Los Angeles on the night of January 19. The fight between the current lightweight champion Makhachev and Tsarukyan was supposed to be the main event of the evening. Tsarukyan was forced to withdraw due to a back injury.

Makhachev is 33 years old, he has 26 wins and 1 loss. Tsarukyan is 28 years old, he has 22 wins and 3 losses in MMA. In the UFC, the athlete has had 11 fights, winning 9 of them.

Moikano is 35 years old, he has 20 wins and five losses, one fight ended in a draw.

The tournament broadcast on “Match-Fighter” and Setanta Sports 1 TV channels will begin at 4:00 Ashgabat time.

For maximum convenience of Turkmen fans, a broadcast has been organized on the national Belet-video platform, where you can watch the fights from any device. The main fight of the evening, Makhachev - Moikano, is expected to begin after 8:00 a.m. Ashgabat time.

Jahangir Saidov, who worked as an assistant referee at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, acted as the chief instructor at a pre-season seminar for football referees in Ashgabat. This is reported by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan.

More than 40 referees participated in the training, who will serve the matches of the championship and Cup of Turkmenistan in the new season.

The seminar was held at the Ashgabat multifunctional stadium, where the Uzbek specialist, together with the instructor of the Football Federation of Turkmenistan (FFT) Charymurat Gurbanov, conducted theoretical and practical classes. Special attention was paid to the analysis of controversial game situations and their correct interpretation on the field.

At the end of the training, all participants were certified. At the closing ceremony, FFT Secretary General Serdar Geldiyev stressed the importance of the seminar for the development of refereeing at both the national and international levels.

The FFT Refereeing Department considers this event as part of a strategy to train young referees to work at national championship matches and international tournaments.