Mikheil Kavelashvili ( ka, მიხეილ ყაველაშვილი ; born 22 July 1971) is a Georgian politician and former

professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a profes ...

who was sworn in as the sixth

president of Georgia The president of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, tr) is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U ...

on 29 December 2024. His election, the first through an

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

after constitutional changes in 2017, is being

disputed Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an oppo ...

by the Georgian opposition, as well as by significant parts of the Western community. He was the sole candidate for the presidency for the first time in Georgia's history because of the opposition boycott. As a football player, he was a striker who played in the English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

for a range of clubs. He also played for

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

and Spartak Vladikavkaz. He was capped 46 times by the

Georgian national football team The Georgia national football team ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრები, tr) represents Georgia (country), Georgia in men's international association football, foo ...

Football career

As with many leading Georgian players, Kavelashvili began his career with

, emerging from their youth system in 1989. A striker, he soon established himself in the Dinamo side before earning a move to Russian club Spartak Vladikavkaz in 1995. He won the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

during his year at the club from

North Ossetia–Alania North Ossetia–Alania (; ), officially the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. It borders the country of Georgia (country), Georgia to the south, a ...

. Kavelashvili began training with

on 1 March 1996, before finally joining the club on 28 March, which was transfer deadline day. He was recommended to manager Alan Ball by compatriot

Georgi Kinkladze Georgi Kinkladze ( ka, გიორგი ქინქლაძე, ; born 6 July 1973), also spelled Georgiou, or Giorgi, or shortened to Gio, is a Georgian former Association football, footballer who played as a playmaker, playmaking midfield ...

, who had joined for £2 million in the summer. The Kavelashvili deal, which was worth £1.4 million, took several weeks due to the player requiring a

work permit A work permit or work visa is the permission to take a job within a foreign country. The foreign country where someone seeks to obtain a work permit for is also known as the "country of work", as opposed to the "country of origin" where someone ho ...

. He made his City debut on 6 April by scoring in the

Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to association football, football matches between Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, ...

game against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, and totalled 4 games and 1 goal in the

as City were relegated. Following City's relegation, Kavelashvili played 24 games (two goals) in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

. The number was not enough to secure a renewal of his work permit, and he was sent out on loan to

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

, winning a

in 1998. He then played the majority of his football in Switzerland, featuring for

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, Sion and

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

. Aarau loaned him out to Vladikavkaz in autumn 2004, but he returned to Switzerland after playing just seven games. Kavelashvili joined

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

's first team during their 2005–06 season under head coach

Christian Gross Christian Jürgen Gross (born 14 August 1954) is a Swiss football manager and former player. He played as a sweeper and central midfielder. Gross was manager of Basel from 1999 to 2009, winning four Swiss Super Leagues and four Swiss Cups. As ...

, who was behind Grasshoppers' league win in 1998. Kavelashvili played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

on 12 March 2006 as he was substituted in the 66th minute; he scored the only goal of the win over Grasshoppers. Basel had started the season well and were joint leaders of the championship with Zürich right until the last day of the league campaign, when they lost the title on goal difference. Kavelashvili had ten appearances for FCB in his first season and in each he had been used as a substitute. In his second season, he made seven appearances, again each as substitute, but the club released him before the winter break, and he retired from his active football career. During his period with the club, he played a total of 17 games (three in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

) and scored 4 goals. With the Georgia national team, he won the 1998

Malta International Football Tournament The Malta International Tournament was a biannual association football friendly competition for national teams, organised by the Malta Football Association that took place in Malta between 1986 and 2008. Initially, the tournament included the part ...

. In 2015, he planned to run for president of the

Georgian Football Federation The Georgian Football Federation ( GFF; ka, საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია, ''sakartvelos pekhburtis pederatsia'') was founded in 1936. Based in Tbilisi, it was part of the Football Fede ...

, but due to a lack of higher education, he was unable to participate in the election.

Political career

In 2016, Kavelashvili was elected as a member of Parliament of Georgia for the

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a Conservatism, conservative and populism, populist List of political parties in Georgia (country), political party in Georgia (country), Georgia, which has ...

party. He was re-elected in 2020. He left Georgian Dream in 2022 and co-founded the People's Power party, a satellite of Georgian Dream designed to propagate anti-Western narratives without incriminating the ruling party. Kavelashvili laid the foundations of the

Global War Party The "Global War Party" (Georgian language, Georgian: გლობალური ომის პარტია, ''globaluri omis p’art’ia'') is a conspiracy theory created and advanced by Georgian Dream, a List of political parties in Geor ...

conspiracy spread by Georgian Dream leaders since 2022, by insinuating US ambassador Kelly Degnan tried to blackmail

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...

into the

war in Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. He has since made unsubstantiated accusations that the political opposition in Georgia are being controlled by US congressmen with "an insatiable desire to destroy our country" and that they were plotting "a direct violent revolution and the Ukrainisation of Georgia". Being described as

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...

and

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

, Kavelashvili also accused the West of wanting "as many people as possible (to be) neutral and tolerant towards

LGBTQ ideology Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric comprises themes, catchphrases, and slogans that have been used in order to demean lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is widely considered a form of hate speech, which is ille ...

", which he called "an act against humanity".

President of Georgia (2024–present)

People's Power joined the party list of Georgian Dream for the 2024 parliamentary election, with Kavelashvili being elected for the third time. A month after the disputed elections, he was nominated as Georgian Dream's candidate for the presidency of Georgia. He remained the sole candidate, a first in Georgia's presidential elections, due to a boycott by the opposition. Due to constitutional changes in 2017 affecting the

electoral system An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...

, the election took place for the first time through an electoral college, rather than a direct popular vote by the Georgian citizens. In his nomination speech, Kavelashvili accused outgoing president

Salome Zourabichvili Salomé Nino Zourabichvili (born 18March 1952) is a French-born Georgian politician, former diplomat, and the fifth president of Georgia – the first female to be elected as president in the country's history. As a result of the constitutiona ...

of violating the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. As sole candidate in the election on 14 December 2024, Kavelashvili received 224 out of 225 votes in the 300-member

and was proclaimed the next president. The opposition boycotted their participation in the electoral college. Kavelashvili was sworn in on 29 December 2024. He is the third former professional football player to become a country's president, following in the footsteps of Algeria's first president

Ahmed Ben Bella Ahmed Ben Bella (; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 and then the first president of ...

between 1963 and 1965 and the election of

George Weah George Manneh Oppong Weah (born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional Association football, footballer who served as the 25th president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. Before his election for the presidency, Weah served ...

President of Liberia The president of the Republic of Liberia is the head of state and government of Liberia. The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Prior to the independence of Liber ...

between 2018 and 2024.

Disputed election

The election of Kavelashvili as president was disputed and regarded as illegitimate by the opposition, outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili,

watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watchdog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...

organizations and Georgian constitutional experts, as well as by significant parts of the Western community. This was largely based on allegations of electoral fraud associated with the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

seven weeks prior, which undermined the legitimacy of parliament and therefore the electoral college, which included all 150 members of parliament. Zourabichvili, along with opposition parties, civil society, and foreign actors, continued to assert her recognition as the legitimate President of Georgia. On 13 February 2025, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

passed a resolution stating that the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

does not recognize Kavelashvili as the legitimate president of Georgia.

Presidency

On 20 March 2025, Kavelashvili appointed political scientist, blogger, and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

creator Luka Ekhvaia as his advisor on foreign relations, who has been described as

far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

, anti-Western, and pro-

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Sports honours

Dinamo Tbilisi *

Umaglesi Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა; ) is the top division of professional top tier football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football Federati ...

: 1990, 1994, 1995 Vladikavkaz *

: 1995 Grasshoppers *

: 1998

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kavelashvili, Mikheil 1971 births Living people Expatriate men's footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in England Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Switzerland FC Aarau players FC Basel players FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Luzern players FC Sion players FC Spartak Vladikavkaz players FC Zürich players Footballers from Tbilisi Georgia (country) men's international footballers Georgian Dream politicians Grasshopper Club Zurich players Manchester City F.C. players Members of the Parliament of Georgia Men's association football forwards Men's footballers from Georgia (country) People's Power politicians Premier League players Presidents of Georgia Russian Premier League players Soviet men's footballers Sportsperson-politicians from Georgia (country) Swiss Super League players