Career
He made his professional debut in the Soviet Second League in 1991 for Football Club Dinamo Gagra. He was born in Abkhazia, a pro-Russia autonomous republic inside Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the independent of Georgia, Dinamo Gagra refused to play in Georgian league and he then left for Football Club Zhemchuzhina Sochi, just about 50 km away in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. At one point he was a candidate for the Russia"s Union of European Football Associations Euro 2004 roster, but was never actually called up.