Ukrainian Football Association threatened with exclusion from FIFA and UEFA

The International Football Federation (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) may suspend the membership of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF). This was announced on December 19 by the first vice-president of the UAF Oleg Protasov.

FIFA and UEFA expressed concern about the possible pressure on UAF members ahead of the extraordinary executive committee of the organization on December 20. At the meeting, it was planned to discuss the legitimacy of the powers of UAF President Andrei Pavelko.

“We are talking about an attempt to hold a meeting of the UAF executive committee on December 20 on the basis of fake protocols and signatures. For the first time I personally encountered such dirty methods of humiliation of the Ukrainian football community,” he wrote on Facebook (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

Protasov attached to the publication a letter from FIFA and UEFA. The organizations recalled that interference in the activities of the national football association will lead to the suspension of its membership.

On November 29, it became known that the Pechorsky District Court in Kyiv arrested Andriy Pavelko, president of the UAF, for two months. This is due to the misuse of funds allocated as international assistance for the construction of an artificial grass plant.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine was engaged in the investigation for a long time. In 2021, he was handed over to the national police.

Pavelko has headed the UAF since 2015. Since 2019, he has been on the executive committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

Pavelko is also known for demanding the exclusion of the Russian Football Union (RFU) from UEFA and FIFA.