# Guram Kashia

Guram Kashia (Order of Honor) (Georgian: გურამ კაშია, romanized: guram k'ashia, pronounced; born 4 July 1987) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Niké Liga club Slovan Bratislava and captains the Georgia national team.
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.

## Club career
### Early career and MLS

Kashia began his career in Dinamo Tbilisi. 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. In August 2015, Kashia was named Best Player of August in Eredivisie.
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. 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. 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. His name was also transliterated as Goeram Kasjia in Dutch.
On 14 June 2018, Kashia joined Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes on a multi-year contract, joining compatriot and close friend Valeri Qazaishvili. The club rejected its contract extension with Kashia following their 2020 season.

### Locomotive Tbilisi and Slovan Bratislava

Kashia transferred to Locomotive Tbilisi in 2021 before moving to Slovan Bratislava later the same year. 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. He signed a new year-long contract with Slovan on 27 June 2024.

## International career

Kashia debuted for Georgia on 1 April 2009 in an exhibition game against Montenegro. In October 2012, he scored Georgia's only goal against Finland in a 2014 World Cup qualification.
Kashia was named Georgian Footballer of the Year twice, in 2012 and in 2013. As of 14 June 2018, he is captain of his national football team. On 26 September 2022, Kashia played his 100th match for Georgia in the Nations League game against Gibraltar. He is the most-capped Georgian footballer of all time.
Kashia took part in Georgia's all 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.

## Personal life

Kashia married his wife Tamtuka in 2009, and their daughter Alessandra was born in 2013. 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. Kashia has stated that his older brother is the reason he began playing football as a child.
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". In August 2018, he became the inaugural recipient of UEFA's #EqualGame award for his pro-LGBT rights stand. 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." In December 2018, Kashia received the Presidential Order of Excellence from Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili.
Kashia is outspoken about the ongoing illegal Russian occupation of Georgia following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. He obtained his U.S. green card in July 2019, qualifying him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 12 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2006–07 | Umaglesi Liga | 11 | 2 | | | | | 0 | 0 | 11+ | 2+ |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2007–08 | Umaglesi Liga | 15 | 1 | | | | | 0 | 0 | 15+ | 1+ |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2008–09 | Umaglesi Liga | 29 | 1 | | | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33+ | 1+ |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2009–10 | Umaglesi Liga | 33 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 10 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2010–11 | Umaglesi Liga | 3 | 0 | | | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7+ | 0+ |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | Total | Total | 91 | 12 | 6+ | 1+ | 11+ | 1+ | 2 | 0 | 110+ | 14+ |
| Vitesse | 2010–11 | Eredivisie | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| Vitesse | 2011–12 | Eredivisie | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 39 | 3 |
| Vitesse | 2012–13 | Eredivisie | 33 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| Vitesse | 2013–14 | Eredivisie | 32 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| Vitesse | 2014–15 | Eredivisie | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 2 |
| Vitesse | 2015–16 | Eredivisie | 27 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 5 |
| Vitesse | 2016–17 | Eredivisie | 34 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 2 |
| Vitesse | 2017–18 | Eredivisie | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 43 | 4 |
| Vitesse | Total | Total | 244 | 20 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 292 | 24 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2018 | MLS | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2019 | MLS | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2020 | MLS | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | Total | Total | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| Locomotive Tbilisi | 2021 | Erovnuli Liga | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 2021–22 | Slovak Super Liga | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 3 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 2022–23 | Slovak Super Liga | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 4 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 2023–24 | Slovak Super Liga | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 2 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 2024–25 | Slovak Super Liga | 18 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 3 |
| Slovan Bratislava | Total | Total | 88 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 57 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 155 | 12 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 480 | 44 | 39 | 4 | 86 | 5 | 16 | 2 | 619 | 54 |
* ↑ Includes U.S. Open Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League
* ↑ Includes European competition play-offs and Johan Cruyff Shield, Georgian Super Cup

### International

    As of match played 19 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Georgia | 2009 | 4 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2010 | 2 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2011 | 6 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2012 | 8 | 1 |
| Georgia | 2013 | 8 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2014 | 5 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2015 | 10 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2016 | 8 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2017 | 10 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2018 | 9 | 1 |
| Georgia | 2019 | 9 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2020 | 3 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2021 | 10 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2022 | 9 | 1 |
| Georgia | 2023 | 9 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2024 | 13 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 123 | 3 |
    Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kashia goal.
List of international goals scored by Guram Kashia :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 12 October 2012 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland | Finland | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 1 June 2018 | Silberstadt Arena Schwaz, Schwaz, Austria | Malta | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 2 June 2022 | Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia | Gibraltar | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C |

## Honours

Dinamo Tbilisi
* Georgian League: 2007–08
* Georgian Cup: 2008–09
* Georgian Super Cup: 2008
Vitesse
* KNVB Cup: 2016–17
Slovan Bratislava
* Fortuna Liga: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Individual
* Presidential order of excellence for unconditional support of LGBTQ+ community: 2018
* Order of Honour: 2024
* UEFA#EqualGame Award: 2018
* Georgian Footballer of the Year: 2012, 2013
* Vitesse player of the Year: 2015–16
* Slovak Super Liga Team of the Season: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24