Tajik FC Khujand has officially announced the appointment of Serbian football coach Nikola Lazarević as the new head coach of the team.
Nikola Lazarević started his coaching career with the youth teams of Radnički Niš (Serbia). He worked in the youth team of Serbia. In 2012, the specialist moved to Tajikistan, where he was invited by his compatriot Nikola Kavazović. Nikola Lazarević became his assistant in the national team of Tajikistan and the FC Istiklol. On the staff, he served as a physical fitness coach. In parallel Lazarević headed the youth national team of the Tajikistan. In 2014, the specialist worked in China with the youth team of the club Shenzhen FC.
In 2015, the coach returned to FC Istiklol. A year later, Nikola Lazarević took over the team. At various times he was on training at Atletico Madrid, FC Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Basel 1893 n Switzerland. In 2016, the Serbian coach returned to FC Istiklol as head coach. Under his leadership, the team made a "golden double", winning the Tajikistan Championship and the Cup of Tajikistan. However, in October 2016, he was dismissed from his post.
In 2017, he worked as a head coach at the FK Cetinje (Montenegro). In 2018-2019, he headed the scouting Department at the Beijing Sport University FC (China).
The vice-champion of Tajikistan-2019 FC Khujand at the play-off stage of the AFC 2020 Cup will meet with the winner of the preliminary round FC Neftchi Kochkor-Ata (Kyrgyzstan) — FC Ahal (Turkmenistan).
