Women’s football club Lanchkhuti disrupted its match against Nike-Lusso on September 29 in a protest days after a court acquitted the rival club’s former president and owner of raping a 20-year-old player.
Lanchkhuti players displayed a banner reading, “A supporter of an abuser is complicit in violence,” during the match, and the club said in a statement on the same day that “It won’t be justified to come out and play football as if nothing had happened.”
The club also listed other allegations, including saying that Nike-Lusso supporters and staff “physically assaulted our players and coaches on the field” in September 2025, and that Nike-Lusso “recorded players with video cameras installed in the changing rooms,” adding that minors are among the club’s players.
“This is the club whose owner and president was arrested in January of this year on charges of raping a player from his own club,” it said, adding: “Our full support and solidarity with the victim of sexual violence, a 20-year-old footballer of the Georgian national team who for months has struggled to literally get her life back.”
The protest came a week after Tbilisi City Court judge Giorgi Arevadze acquitted Mehmet Uyar, a 32-year-old Turkish businessman and former president and owner of Nike-Lusso, of charges stemming from a 20-year old player’s allegation that he raped her after a club celebration in December 2025. He was freed from the courtroom after nine months in pre-trial custody.
Uyar denied the allegation. In his final statement to the court, he said he had never had sexual contact with anyone through the use of violence, including the 20-year-old player.
The player, who played for Nike-Lusso and also represented Georgia’s national team, alleged that the assault occurred after Nike-Lusso celebrated winning the 2025 Georgian women’s championship, according to the report by RFE/RL’s Georgian Service.
The player was cited as testifying that after the event, Uyar’s driver offered to take her home, but instead of being taken to the apartment she shared with teammates, she was driven to Uyar’s private residence. Frightened, she sent her location to a teammate, according to her account. According to the player, Uyar later arrived at the house, locked the house from inside, and raped her. She reported the alleged assault to police the following day.
Prosecutors accused Uyar of committing sexual violence by exploiting his professional position and alleged that gender-based intolerance was an aggravating circumstance. The prosecutors are planning to appeal the first-instance ruling.
RFE/RL also cited the footballer as saying that she had experienced worsening Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following the alleged assault and regularly needed to seek help. Following the ruling, the outlet said doctors and an ambulance arrived at the courtroom, after which the player was reportedly taken to a clinic under sedation.
The case has prompted expressions of solidarity with the 20-year-old player from other women footballers and rights groups. “The Women’s Movement expresses its full support and solidarity with the 20-year-old female footballer who reported sexual violence and has been going through a difficult legal and emotional process for months,” the Women’s Movement said in a Facebook statement.
The group said the case “goes beyond the scope of a single criminal case,” raising broader questions about women’s safety in professional sports, institutional responses to sexual violence and harassment, and whether women who report violence are adequately protected from pressure, retaliation and further trauma.
WFC Kolkheti Khobi also expressed “full solidarity” with WFC Lanchkhuti, saying football is not merely a game but a space where “respect, safety and support for one another are of utmost importance.” The club said that “violence has no place in football, and especially in women’s football,” and voiced support for those facing violence and fighting for justice. The club said its team “stands with Lanchkhuti,” adding that “silence is not a solution” and calling for “unity, support and a clear position.”
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