295 million hryvnias in losses: Slovakia has arrested the former head of the Ukrainian Football Federation
24 July 20:04
A former high-ranking official of the Ukrainian Football Federation has been detained in Slovakia. He had been on the run from Ukrainian justice for years. Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko announced this on social media, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“A former high-ranking official of the Ukrainian Football Federation, who was wanted by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, has been detained in Bratislava,” the post reads.
According to Ukrainian media reports, the individual in question is Andriy Pavelko, the former president of the Ukrainian Football Federation.
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According to the investigation, he organized a scheme to siphon off nearly 295 million hryvnias from the Federation through commercial entities under his control. To do this, fictitious contracts were drawn up for the supply of seafood, premium teas, coffee, and electrical equipment—all of which existed only on paper. The money was siphoned off, and the Ukrainian Football Federation and its regional branches suffered losses amounting to millions.
“The Office of the Prosecutor General has already initiated extradition proceedings. I have sent a letter to the competent authorities of the Slovak Republic stating my intention to request the extradition of this individual, as well as to seek his temporary detention,” Kravchenko stated.
As the Prosecutor General emphasized, this arrest is the result of professional cooperation between Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and the competent authorities of the Slovak Republic, as well as the effective use of mechanisms for international legal cooperation.
“We will continue to bring back to Ukraine those who for years believed they could hide from the law abroad,” Kravchenko concluded.
As a reminder, in late 2025, Andriy Pavelko, the former head of the Ukrainian Football Association, was officially placed on the wanted list.
After being elected president of the UAF, Andriy Shevchenko announced an audit of the organization. In April 2024, the preliminary results revealed an outflow of UAF assets totaling more than 1.3 billion hryvnias during Andriy Pavelko’s tenure.
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