From the boxing ring to the presidential palace, the track to Parliament, the worlds of sports and politics often intersect in mysterious ways.
In recent years, a growing number of athletes have tried to swap their kits to suits – and Georgia’s Mikheil Kavelashvili is one of them.
The former Manchester City striker is looking to leverage his fame into a successful career in politics.
Georgian Dream, the pro-Russian ruling party, on Wednesday picked him as its candidate for the presidential elections due to be held on December 14.
Former Man City player Mikheil Kavelashvili will soon be Georgia’s president
The 53-year-old – an ex-national team and Premier League player – will face sitting president Salome Zourabichvili.
Although the post is largely ceremonial, the choice of Kavelashvili is likely to be viewed by the European Union and the US as a yet another sign that Georgia is turning away from the West and moving closer to Russia.
Who is Georgia’s Mikheil Kavelashvili?
Kavelashvili started his career in football for Dinamo Tbilisi and was then a striker in the Premier League for Manchester City in the mid-1990s and in several clubs in the Swiss Super League.
He moved into politics in 2016, and was elected to parliament on a ticket by the Georgian Dream party, before leaving in 2022 to co-found People’s Power party.
He has made a name in Georgia’s political scene for his anti-Western views and for being one of the most openly pro-Russian players in mainstream politics.
Under the veil of his party, Kavelashvili has, for example, championed the foreign agent and anti-LGBT laws.
His nomination was announced by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire former prime minister who founded Georgian Dream and is widely seen as the country’s most powerful figure.
Ivanishvili praised the ex-football player as an ‘outstanding’ politician and athlete, contrasting him with Zourabichvili, who he accused of ‘gross betrayal’ of the country.
His election is all but assured, as Georgian Dream dominates the electoral college of members of parliament and local government representatives.
Other athletes who gave politics a go
Figures like Vitali Klitschko, the heavyweight boxing champion turned Kyiv mayor, and football legend George Weah, who became Liberia’s president, are further examples of sporting heroes using their fame to influence the political scene in their country.
Vitali was only a year into his retirement from boxing when he was elected as mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in 2014.
Once a force in the ring, he found himself facing even worse threats eight years later, in 2022, when Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of his country.
His younger brother and fellow boxer Wladimir, who won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 1996 Olympics, travels abroad to drum up support for Ukraine.
In the UK, Sebastian Coe, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in middle-distance running, transitioned into politics, serving as a Conservative MP from 1992 to 1997.
He later became instrumental in securing and organising the London 2012 Olympics as the head of the London Organising Committee.
Ballon d’Or-winning footballer, Andriy Shevchenko, ventured into Ukrainian politics after retiring.
Though his 2012 parliamentary bid with Ukraine Forward! was not a win, the former striker for Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan and Chelsea remains active in political and social initiatives.
Manny Pacquiao – nicknamed ‘PacMan’ – is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time.
The eight-division world boxing champion built a political career alongside his sporting achievements, serving as a senator from 2016 until 2022 in the Philippines.
Though unsuccessful, he ran for presidency in 2022, campaigning on anti-corruption and poverty alleviation, but lost to Bongbong Marcos.
Pakistan’s Imran Khan began his international cricket career in a 1971 Test series against England and later captained the national team during the 1992 Cricket World Cup, their only victory in the competition.
The 72-year-old then serves as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, before being jailed for corruption.
In the US, Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the biggest examples that an athlete can be successful in politics too.
The bodybuilding champion and Hollywood action star entered politics as the Republican Governor of California. He served from 2003 to 2011.
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