MOSCOW, July 7 The Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) reports The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) about every fact of systemic pressure on the organization in the case of UAF President Andriy Pavelko, said UAF First Vice President Anatoly Demyanenko.
Earlier, UEFA director Zoran Lakovic expressed concern over the transfer of the trial against Pavelko to Lviv and the change in the measure of restraint to detention. According to Demyanenko, none of the prosecutors arrived on Friday to consider Pavelko's case.
“We arrived at the court to support UAF President Andriy Pavelko, who has been illegally held behind bars for three weeks already. I want to emphasize that for three weeks already, without any evidence of guilt and without a court verdict, through the abuse of criminal justice, the legally elected representative of the UAF and UEFA is deprived of liberty.Today, not a single prosecutor arrived in court in order to artificially create conditions for the extension of a groundless detention.There is a deliberate opposition to legal proceedings and the rule of law.At the same time, what is happening is grossly violating the regulations of UEFA, FIFA, which guide each national association and protect their independence «, — the UAF website quotes Demyanenko.
«At the request of UEFA, we are informing about every fact of already systemic pressure on the UAF. With its letter, UEFA recently informed us that it is closely monitoring the situation and assessing it, taking into account the need to take response measures in order to protect the independence of the Ukrainian football institution. I do not want to evaluate now possible consequences of such a reaction for our country and football, but I am sure that this custom-made campaign against the leaders of the UAF must be stopped immediately,» Demyanenko added.
In November 2022, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv arrested Pavelko for two months with the possibility of bail in the amount of 9 million 880 thousand hryvnia (268.6 thousand dollars). The president of the organization was charged with embezzlement of funds in a criminal case «on the misuse of international aid funds intended for the construction of an artificial grass plant.» The criminal case has been under investigation since 2021. On November 29, the UAF paid a bail for Pavelko. In February, the media reported that a court in Ukraine suspended Pavelko from the post of head of the UAF for a month. Later, information appeared in the media that the court extended the suspension. In June, the Ukrainian edition of Football Hub reported that the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Lviv arrested Pavelko for 60 days.
In April, Pavelko was re-elected to the UEFA executive committee.