Mikheil Kavelashvili

About

Mikheil Kavelashvili (Georgian: მიხეილ ყაველაშვილი [miχeil qʼaveɫaʃʷili]; born 22 July 1971) is a Georgian politician and former professional footballer who was sworn in as the sixth president of Georgia on 29 December 2024. His election, the first to be conducted through an electoral college following constitutional changes in 2017, is being disputed 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 for Manchester City and in the Swiss Super League for a range of clubs. He also played for Dinamo Tbilisi and Spartak Vladikavkaz. He was capped 46 times by the Georgian national football team.

== Football career ==
As with many leading Georgian players, Kavelashvili began his career with Dinamo Tbilisi, 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 during his year at the club from North Ossetia–Alania…