Giorgi Nemsadze, the former Georgia captain and Dundee midfielder, has died at the age of 54 after a heart attack. Dinamo Tbilisi, the club where he began and ended his playing career, announced the news on Facebook, saying it did so “with a heavy heart”.
Nemsadze earned 69 caps for Georgia and represented a series of clubs during his career, including Hamburg, Trabzonspor, Grasshoppers, Reggiana and Locomotive Tbilisi. He joined Dundee in 2000, arriving during an era of big-name signings under manager Ivano Bonetti, with Argentina striker Claudio Caniggia cited as an example.
Dundee inducted Nemsadze into the club’s hall of fame in 2010, and he featured in Julian Speroni’s testimonial in 2015, giving Dundee fans one last chance to see him in dark blue. The club said it was “deeply saddened” by his passing and described him as a Hall of Fame inductee, noting that he made 17 appearances for Georgia during his time at Dens and that he had called the city his “second home”.
After his playing career, Nemsadze spent a year as Dinamo Tbilisi’s sporting director before moving into coaching with Georgia’s youth players. He managed Shevardeni Tbilisi, Dila Gori and Dinamo.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze led the tributes, saying he expressed “deep sorrow” over Nemsadze’s death and calling it “a tremendous loss for Georgian football”. He added that Nemsadze, as a former national team captain, had been an outstanding professional and a leader with a fighting spirit who left a lasting mark on Georgian sport.