Ukraine’s football association president Andriy Pavelko was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of embezzling his organisation’s funds, his lawyer told AFP.
The Ukrainian police accused Pavelko of misusing funds meant for the construction of an artificial football pitch factory.
Pavelko, who denies wrongdoing, faces up to 12 years in prison.
He is expected to be released pending trial after paying 9.9 million hryvnias ($270,000) in bail.
“The bail has already been paid. We hope that Pavelko will return to his office in the next few hours,” his lawyer Denys Bugay told AFP.
Bugay said Pavelko’s legal team was ready to cooperate with the investigation.
The lawyers said they will contest the court decision that comes after three years of investigation.
Pavelko has been at the helm of the country’s football authority since 2015.
Last month, he hailed “united” European football after his country was added to Portugal and Spain’s bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
The original proposal only involved Spain and Portugal, but they included Ukraine as a signal of solidarity after Russia’s invasion.
