Kashia

Guram Kashia (Georgian: გურამ კაშია, romanized: guram k'ashia, pronounced ; born 4 July 1987) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Niké Liga club Slovan Bratislava and captains the Georgian national team.

Developed at Dinamo Tbilisi, he spent most of his career at Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse, where he was captain. In eight years in the Netherlands, he played 292 official matches (24 goals) and won the KNVB Cup in 2017.

Kashia made his Georgia debut on 1 April 2009 against Montenegro. In October 2012, he scored Georgia's only goal against Finland in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

Kashia was named Georgian Footballer of the Year twice, in 2012 and in 2013. As of 14 June 2018, Kashia captains his country. On 26 September 2022, he played his 100th match for Georgia in the Nations League game against Gibraltar. Kashia is the most capped Georgian player of all time.

Kashia is from Tbilisi, Georgia. He married his wife Tamtuka in 2009, and their daughter Alessandra was born in 2013. His older brother Shota is also a professional footballer and has played at Georgian Erovnuli Liga club FC Chikhura Sachkhere since 2013; both brothers wear #37 for their clubs. Kashia has stated that his older brother is the reason he began playing football as a child.

In November 2017, while playing for Vitesse, Kashia wore a rainbow armband as part of the Dutch initiative Coming Out Day. His show of support for gay rights led to protests outside the Georgian Football Federation's headquarters demanding his removal from the national team, at which eight people were arrested. He described himself as being "proud to support equal rights". In August 2018, he became the inaugural recipient of UEFA's #EqualGame award for his pro-LGBT rights stand. He was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Monaco due to his club commitments with San Jose, but submitted a video acceptance speech in which he said, "I believe in equality for everyone, no matter what you believe in, who you love or who you are...I will always keep defending equality and equal rights for everyone, wherever I will play." In December 2018, he received the Presidential Order of Excellence from Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili.

He is outspoken about the ongoing illegal Russian occupation of Georgia following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.

Kashia obtained his U.S. green card in July 2019, qualifying him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.