Ukrainian football coach Imad Ashour has officially resumed his career. After several months of inactivity, the specialist has signed a contract with the Latvian club Liepāja, where he will take up the post of assistant head coach.
The transfer information was confirmed by RBK-Ukraine citing the Baltic club's press service. In the new team, Ashour will work under the guidance of Estonian coach Vladimir Vassiliev. Details of the agreement, including financial terms, remain confidential.
Return After a Break
For the 38-year-old specialist, this is the first official job since his dismissal from Zhytomyr's Polissya. In May 2025, the management of the Ukrainian team sent Imad into retirement, replacing him with Ruslan Rotan. Since then, the coach has been without a club until he received an offer from Latvia.
Imad Ashour is a native of Odesa of Lebanese origin. His career began in amateur Odesa teams and the Lebanese Homenetmen. He forged his coaching path through work at the Odesa children and youth schools "Krok" and "Chornomorets". He gained significant experience at the Aspire Academy in Qatar (2019–2021), and also worked with the Ukrainian youth national teams (U-17 and U-21) and the Dnipro-1 U-19 team, with which he won the bronze medal in the youth championship.
Ashour conquered the adult level in May 2024, taking charge of Polissya. He entered the history of Zhytomyr football as the first coach of the team to lead it to the UEFA Conference League qualification.
Situation at Liepāja
Ashour's new employer plays in the Latvian Virsliga. At the moment, after 16 rounds, Liepāja occupies fourth place in the standings, having 22 points to its credit (6 wins, 4 draws, 6 losses). The team is 12 points behind the European competition zone, making the task of breaking into the top 3 ambitious.
The club itself is a relatively young project, founded in 2014. It became the successor to the legendary Liepājas Metalurgs, which went bankrupt in 2013. To keep football in the city, the new structure fully adopted the traditions, the children's academy, and the place in the top division. The first president was the former Kyiv Dynamo player Maris Verpakovskis.