Shevchenko, President of the Ukrainian Federation

Kyiv (AFP)

Former international star Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko was elected president of his country's Football Federation, pledging to develop the sport.
Shevchenko, 47 years old, said on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter), after his election, “A great task and a huge responsibility await us, which is to develop Ukrainian football in the most difficult time in the history of Ukraine.”
The winner of the Golden Ball for the best player in 2004 confirmed during a press conference in Kiev that he is striving to develop the game.
The former Chelsea, Milan and Dynamo Kiev striker also pledged to eliminate corruption in the federation, following a graft scandal that led to the arrest of his predecessor on fraud charges.
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought to advance his anti-corruption agenda domestically, a key demand in Kiev's bid to join the European Union.
Shevchenko added, “It is very important for us to be transparent.” He supervised the training of his country’s national team between 2016 and 2021 and led it to the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Cup, where it lost to England.
Football in Ukraine was affected by the war, as the season was stopped and matches were moved to the safer western part, and the national team was forced to play its home matches in neighboring Poland.
Ukraine is currently in the qualifying round for the UEFA Euro 2024 finals.