Former head of the Ukrainian Football Association Pavelko detained in Slovakia

A former high-ranking official of the Football Federation of Ukraine, who had been hiding from Ukrainian justice for years, was detained in Slovakia.

This was reported by Prosecutor General Andriy Kravchenko.

According to Babelʼs sources, this is the former president of the Ukrainian Football Association Andriy Pavelko. In Ukraine, he is suspected of having withdrawn almost 295 million hryvnias belonging to the federation. Pavelko concluded fictitious contracts for the supply of seafood, elite varieties of tea, coffee, and electrical equipment. But these products existed only on paper, which led to multimillion-dollar losses.

Ukraine will request Slovakia to extradite Pavelko.

What is known about Pavelkoʼs criminal cases?

In 2018-2019, investigators opened criminal proceedings against the leadership of the UAF and its chairman Pavelko for embezzling $11.16 million allocated for the construction of artificial turf football fields, as well as for misappropriating funds from FFU Production and Sport Technology.

On November 29, 2022, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv arrested Andriy Pavelko for two months. He was released on bail of 9.88 million hryvnias, which was paid by the UAF.

In 2023-2024, the former chairman spent 259 days in custody as part of a criminal case involving embezzlement. He later appealed to the European Court of Human Rights and received compensation from Ukraine.

In October 2025, law enforcement officers announced his suspicion that he had illegally appropriated and squandered property, using his position, and also forged official documents. According to the investigation, the funds that UEFA transferred to the Ukrainian Football Association were transferred to the account of a private company, after which they disappeared. The total amount of losses is estimated at €9.32 million.

On December 25, 2025, the Security Service of Ukraine put Pavelko on the wanted list. The MIA card stated that he disappeared on November 5, 2025 and was hiding from the pre-trial investigation authorities.

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