According to UAF vice-president Oleg Protasov, if the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) cannot resolve a dispute including accusations of misappropriation and outside interference, FIFA and UEFA membership may be suspended.
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On Monday, Protasov posted a letter that was sent to him and signed by the FIFA and UEFA secretaries general, Fatma Samoura and Theodore Theodoridis, on his Facebook page.
“We note with grave concern that UAF Executive Committee members are allegedly being pressured into signing requests to hold an extraordinary meeting of the UAF Executive Committee,” the letter reads.
“In this context, we would like to remind the UAF of its obligation… to manage its affairs independently and with no undue influence from third parties.
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“Any violation of this obligation may lead to a suspension of UAF’s membership with FIFA and UEFA in line with art. 16 of the FIFA Statutes and art. 9 of the UEFA Statutes.
“Going forward, we sincerely hope that the situation can be resolved amicably.”
On December 20, the UAF executive committee is scheduled to meet to talk about Andrey Pavelko’s future as president.
Pavelko, who was detained by Kiev’s Pechersk Court last month on suspicion of theft in a case involving suspected financial mismanagement and opened in 2021, was freed on a bond of about 10 million hryvnia (around $270,000), with the money purportedly provided by the UAF.
A group of UAF executives have proposed Andrey Shevchenko as a potential replacement for the scandal-plagued Pavelko. Shevchenko is a football legend from Ukraine.
Protasov, a former player for the Soviet Union who made 68 appearances, has asserted that Shevchenko’s replacement with Pavelko is the work of a “subversive gang.”
The dispute, among other things, poses a risk to Ukraine’s joint bid with Spain and Portugal to host the World Cup in 2030.
The incident, according to the irate Protasov, was “dirty and humiliating” for Ukrainian football.
“The world football community cannot and will not close its eyes to the attempts to conduct illegal elections in the UAF,” he wrote in his Facebook message.
“Let’s respect the merits of football in Ukraine, not destroy its reputation.”
The argument occurs concurrently with a dispute between Ukraine and FIFA over President Vladimir Zelensky’s request to deliver a video message prior to Sunday’s World Cup final in Qatar.
Apparently wanting to keep any such initiatives off the football field, FIFA denied the request, leaving Ukrainian government officials “surprised by the unfavourable answer.”
