Ukraine’s Shevchenko hits back at UEFA and ‘political factors’ for soccer election loss
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian soccer federation president Andriy Shevchenko hit back at UEFA on Friday, one day after a heavy election loss, claiming he and his country “were not welcome” to join its leadership.
The former AC Milan and Dynamo Kyiv star and 2004 Ballon d’Or winner got votes from just 15 of the 55 UEFA member federations Thursday when seeking a seat on the European soccer body’s decision-making executive committee.
Shevchenko needed at least 28 votes to get one of the two vacant seats being contested by five candidates, and he was by far the most well-known.
“Unfortunately, in the last few days, we received clear signals that — due to political factors — both Ukraine and I personally were not welcome in UEFA’s leadership,” Shevchenko said Friday in a statement published by the Ukrainian soccer federation.
Shevchenko did not specify possible political reasons for the results in the election, which was won by candidates from Spain and Israel. One of the seats was effectively to replace Shevchenko’s predecessor at the Ukrainian soccer body, Andrii Pavelko.
At the 2024 annual meeting of UEFA, Ukraine was one of the few member federations not to support votes which let the governing body’s president Aleksander Čeferin seek re-election in 2027. The Slovenian lawyer can now extend his mandate beyond what was the statutory limit of 12 years.
UEFA also tried in 2023 to ease a total ban on Russian national soccer teams playing in international competitions during the invasion of Ukraine. UEFA’s proposed review to let Russian Under-17 teams play caused a rift on the executive committee and was dropped.
On Thursday, Čeferin restated UEFA’s position that Russia will be readmitted to international competitions only “when the war stops.”
Shevchenko was defiant Friday insisting “we will not change our position.”
“We will continue with our reforms in Ukrainian football and remain committed to strong international communication in the interests of our nation and the entire football community,” he said.
UEFA was approached for comment.
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