Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former Manchester City footballer, has been elected president by Georgia’s contested parliament following 17 days of pro-EU protests that have shaken the country’s towns and cities.
Kavelashvili, 53, who previously served as a Member of Parliament for the increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream party, was the only candidate for the presidency.
On Saturday, 224 out of 225 members of Georgia’s electoral college voted in his favor.
Kavelashvili began his football career in 1989, rising through the ranks of Dinamo Tbilisi’s youth system as a promising young talent.
He went on to establish himself as a regular striker for the team before moving to Russian club Spartak Vladikavkaz in 1995.
Mikheil Kavelashvili.
Kavelashvili then spent two seasons at Manchester City, followed by stints with several Swiss Super League clubs, eventually retiring in 2006.
During his career, Kavelashvili earned 46 caps for the Georgian national team, scoring 9 goals.
A decade after retiring from football, he entered politics, being elected to Georgia’s parliament in 2016 under the Georgian Dream banner.
In 2022, he co-founded the People’s Power political movement.
