Ravil Sabitov: biography, football and coaching career

Ravil Rafailovich Sabitov is a professional Soviet and Russian ex-football player who acted as a central defender in clubs such as Dynamo Moscow, Dynamo Sukhumi, Lokomotiv Moscow, Zulte-Waregem (Belgium) and the national team of the USSR in Football. Of the sports achievements of the player can be identified champion in the Cup of Russia 1994/1995.

Since 1997 and to this day is engaged in coaching career. The champion of Kazakhstan in 2010, led by the team "Tobol".

Footballer Ravil Sabitov: biography and interesting facts from sports career

Born March 8 in 1968 in Moscow, the USSR. He was brought up in an ordinary family - his father worked as a taxi driver, and his mother worked part time on the market. At the age of six he first became acquainted with football, when his parents took him to the local section. Soon the boy began to join the sport fast. In 1976 he won an amateur tournament of the Moscow region among children under 8 years old.

In 1986 he signed his first professional contract with Dynamo Moscow. Having played here for four seasons and demonstrated his football solvency, he received an offer to move from the Abkhaz club "Dynamo Sukhumi", where Oleg Vasilievich Dolmatov (the famous Soviet ex-football player and coach) was the head coach. As a result, Ravil Sabitov played only one season here, then in 1991 he moved to Lokomotiv Moscow at the personal invitation of Yuri Semin (head coach). As part of the "railroad" played until 1993, spent about 70 official matches.

Journey to Belgium: the transition to "Zulte-Waregem"

In December 1993 Ravil Sabitov was bought by the Belgian club "Waregem". However, the young Russian defender never managed to play in Europe. Sabitov managed to play eight official matches in the Belgian championship, after which he received heavy damage and dropped out for several months from the base. Thus, Ravil lost the game practice and the place at the base - had to return to his homeland.

Return to the Russian Championship

In 1995, the football player returned to the ranks of the Moscow "Dynamo", where the head coach was already Konstantin Beskov (former coach of the USSR team). As Sabitov later said, Beskov created from him a completely different player - he taught to be a creator. In the season of the Russian Premier League 1995/1996 Ravil Sabitov played 19 official matches, in which he managed to score 2 goals (previously the football player did not score goals in professional football).

After the time, Sabitov again suffered a serious knee injury and was out of action. The football player tried to recover for several years, but the damage did not allow to resume football career. As a result, the player announces the end of his career. Immediately, Ravil decides to engage in coaching. In 1997, he entered the Higher School of Coaches of Russia, which later graduates perfectly.

Continuation of career as a coach

From 1997 to 1999 he worked as an assistant to the head coach of the football club "Khimki" from the city of the same name. In 2000 he coached FC Titan, and a year later he returned to Khimki, only as head coach.

In 2002 he took the post of sports director in the club "Rybinsk". From 2003 to 2007, he coached the youth national football team of Russia up to the age of 19.

From 2007 to 2015 he held the post of head coach in such teams as:

1. "Torpedo" (Moscow, Russia) - from 2007 to 2008.
2. "Maccabi" (semiprofessional football club from Moscow) - from 2009 to 2010.
3. "Tobol" (Kostanay, Kazakhstan) - from 2010 to 2011. He won the championship in the Kazakh football championship.
4. "Daugava" (Daugavpils, Latvia) - from 2011 to 2012.
5. "Müllüpuro" (Helsinki, Finland) - from 2013 to 2014.
6. "Sakhalin" (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia) - 2015.

Head Coach in FC "Tekstilshchik Ivanovo"

In August 2015, Sabitov signed an agreement for the post of head coach with the club from the second division of Russia FC "Tekstilshchik" from the city of Ivanovo. In the winter of 2015, Sabitov was tasked with bringing the club to the top three of the zone "West of the Second Division of the PFL". The whole season the team struggled in the top five of the championship table, however on May 26, 2016 FC "Tekstilshchik Ivanovo" lost all chances for further struggle when they drew with the St. Petersburg "Dynamo". After such a disappointment, head coach Sabitov was waiting for a serious conversation with club president Sergei Zobnin. During their dialogue, it was decided to break the contract due to failure to fulfill the required objectives.

Since 2017, Ravil Sabitov participates (as a coach) on the "Match-TV" channel in the reality show "Who Wants to Become a Legionnaire?"