“Agreeing on short-term cooperation”
The Khimki head coach, Sergey Yuran, is leaving his post. Media had previously reported that he was informed of his dismissal, and today this was confirmed by Roman Teryushkov, a former Moscow Region sports minister and a member of the club’s Supervisory Board.
“We discussed a kind of short-term collaboration: staying among the elite and preparing for the new season. Ultimately, we concluded that a mutual separation is necessary.
We agreed yesterday. Documents will be signed soon, and compensation will be paid.
For the second time, Sergei Yuran exits his role at a Moscow-area club amid scandal — and both times, suddenly and unexpectedly. The first occurrence was in August 2020, when the coach wondered aloud why the club management acted as they did.
“I didn’t understand how this could happen to me — like a tossed dog. There would be a reason, no question. But when things like this occur… Is it because we reached the cup final and advanced to the RPL?”
I was so frustrated by the situation that I couldn’t remain silent. “I still don’t understand why I was fired two years later,” he told Sports24.
Resignation after a victory
If Khimki struggles at the season start, the current resignation can be seen as understandable. For example, in Ural, the team failed to score in four straight games, conceding ten goals in the early stage of the Russian Premier League (RPL). Against this backdrop, Khimki’s head coach Igor Shalimov was dismissed.
The irony is that Khimki began the season with optimism. In the fifth round the team stood seventh with seven points, two wins and a draw.
Even if those six points came against not the strongest opponents — Pari NN, which has undergone major changes, and Torpedo, which slowed after returning to the RPL — the value of those wins should not be underestimated. It was just after the victory over Torpedo that Yuran was informed of his dismissal.
What the real reasons were remains unclear. Socialbites.ca sought comment from Sergei Yuran but received no response, which is expected given that the coach now faces other challenges.
Undoubtedly, at some point he will again surface in the press with a fiery interview that could touch on whether the club intended a short-term collaboration from the start. For now, rumors and insider chatter continue to circulate in the media space.
“I did not include the investor’s son in the lineup”
Reporter Sergei Ilyev claims the dismissal stemmed from a conflict with one of the club’s major shareholders, Tufan Sadigov. Allegedly, during an away match with Rostov, Khimki’s only defeat this season, the coach and the investor’s son, Ilya Sadigov, clashed over selection decisions.
“From what I’m told, the quarrel followed the Rostov game, where Yuran did not include Ilya Sadygov in the lineup,” Ilyev wrote in a Telegram channel.
The fallout echoed previous rumors this year about a dispute involving Ilya Sadigov. Reports suggested Yuran pushed back against a claim to a place at the club’s base, and most of the first team traveled to the next match with CSKA. Sadigov was reportedly at the heart of an earlier incident, helping Khimki to a notable 4:2 victory over the army club. An agent also alleged money exchanges tied to a place at the base, though those claims remained unverified and largely rumors.
Echoes of the “Matyunin case”
Another explanation pointed to a motivation behind Yuran’s departure. The Telegram channel Mutko vs. suggested the resignation could be linked to the controversial Khimki versus Krylya Sovetov match and the Matyunin case. In late April, Khimki won 4:1, and Ashot Khachaturyants, then head of the RPL, indicated a referee review found nine major calls favoring Khimki and one major call in favor of Krylia Sovetov.
According to the source, those involved were told to leave the team; this group reportedly included Yuran. Regardless of the specifics, Yuran’s second Khimki tenure was punctuated by controversy, raising questions about whether the issue lay with the coach, the club leadership, or the interplay of both. Notably, another former Khimki coach, Igor Cherevchenko, admitted he would not return to the club.
“I won’t consider a return to Khimki,” he stated on Pair TV.
Pesarev to Khimki? Yuran to Ural?
The media cycle suggested Yuran’s successor might already be in place. Khimki, near Moscow, was reported by Championship to be considering Nikolai Pisarev, the assistant coach of the Russian national team under Valery Karpin, for the head role. With the national team’s current constraints, Karpin and deputy Viktor Onopko are primarily operating in Rostov, so Pisarev’s appointment would not be extraordinary. Official confirmation remained pending.
Rumors about Yuran’s next move circulated, but reliability varied. Sport-Express claimed he would continue his career with Ural, a position that had just opened, and he was said to have met with Ural’s leadership, who declined to provide details until all was ready. The club’s head, Grigory Ivanov, also refused to reveal specifics about who would lead the team.
“Nothing to say now. You’ll learn everything when everything is set,” Ivanov declared to a Socialbites.ca correspondent.
“The resignation seems odd given the team results”
Sporting observers offered their take. Vyacheslav Koloskov, an honorary RFU figure, suggested the decision might stem from a dispute with Sadigov over his son’s role. He emphasized that while results matter, other factors also influence the firing. He noted that Shalimov’s departure followed a similar logic: results drive decisions, but internal disagreements can also play a role.
Koloskov added that Yuran’s record contains positive elements: the team’s playing style shows signs of coaching influence, even as the reasons behind the departure remain unclear. He warned against daydreaming about hidden motives but acknowledged the possibility of owner-coach disagreements shaping the outcome, given the owner’s authority over policy and staffing.
In this unfolding situation, the true motives behind Yuran’s exit remain a topic of debate, inviting ongoing scrutiny from media and fans alike. The question of whether the conflict centered on Sadigov’s son or other behind-the-scenes tensions continues to spark discussion as the football world watches for the next chapter in Khimki’s coaching saga.