April 6 – It is perhaps no surprise that of the seven men elected on to the UEFA executive committee on Wednesday, the one gaining the fewest votes was Ukraine FA boss Andriy Pavelko (pictured).
Pavelko garnered 31 votes, four more than Liechtenstein’s Hugo Quaderer.
Ukraine has rightly received considerable moral and technical support from UEFA since the country was invaded by Russia but the UEFA membership was placed in an awkward position when deciding whether to hand Pavelko another four-year term.
Pavelko is under investigation for alleged corruption in his own country after being arrested and accused of allegedly misusing international aid funds last November.
He was only released from jail after the UAF paid a $271,000 bail fee and still faces a possible trial.
Of course he remains innocent until proven guilty and hence was re-elected on to the UEFA executive committee despite the aspirations of four other candidates who failed to gain enough votes – including Norway’s female contender Lisa Klaveness.
Might politics have played a part? Removing Pavelko would have handed a considerable public relations opportunity to Russia whose federation president Alexander Dyukov has been an executive committee member since 2021 and whose position does not expire for another two years.
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