Merab Jordania ( ka, მერაბ ჟორდანია; born 3 September 1965), is a Georgian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is the owner and chairman of

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

football club Valletta FC.

Club career

Jordania was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

. During his career he played for

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

(1980–81, 1984–87),

Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi ( Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი ტორპედო ქუთაისი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. The team competes in the Erovnuli ...

(1982–1983) and

FC Guria Lanchkhuti FC Guria ( ka, საფეხბურთო კლუბი გურია) is a Georgian association football club from Lanchkhuti. Following the 2024 season they were relegated to Liga 4, the fourth tier of the national league. Being one ...

(1988–90).

Managerial and presidential career

Later, in 1998-2005 he was the president of

Georgian Football Federation The Georgian Football Federation ( GFF; ka, საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია, ''sakartvelos pekhburtis pederatsia'') was founded in 1936. Based in Tbilisi, it was part of the Football Fede ...

. In 2003, he was one of the temporary managers of

Georgia national football team The Georgia national football team ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრები, tr) represents Georgia (country), Georgia in men's international association football, foo ...

Vitesse Arnhem

In August 2010, he bought financially troubled

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

. There were rumors that this purchase was engineered by Chelsea owner

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (born 24 October 1966) is a business oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the primary owner of the private investment com ...

. He followed up by acquiring the services of new players and replacing manager

Theo Bos Theo Bos (born 22 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional road and track cyclist. An Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion, he is the brother of Olympic medalist in speed skating Jan Bos. On 29 November 2021, he announced ...

with the inexperienced

Albert Ferrer Albert Ferrer Llopis (; born 6 June 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right-back, and was also a manager. Having represented Barcelona for almost a decade, he went on to appear for England's Chelsea until his retirement. Du ...

, a former Spanish international defender. In 2013, Jordania appointed

Peter Bosz Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is currently the head coach of Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. He had previously ...

, who left the club in January 2015. In 2016, Henk Fraser was appointed manager of the Vitesse first team.

References

External links

Official Web-site
1960 births Living people Mingrelians Sports executives and administrators Men's footballers from Georgia (country) Soviet men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Guria Lanchkhuti players Stjarnan players Georgia national football team managers Football managers from Georgia (country) Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Footballers from Tbilisi Expatriate men's footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Iceland {{USSR-footy-midfielder-stub