Ex-Man City star Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as PRESIDENT of Georgia after ‘Putin helped his party rig election’
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Sponsored by. A FORMER footballer who played for Manchester City has been sworn in as the new President of Georgia. Mikheil Kavelashvili, 53, who played for the blues from 1995 to 1997, has today taken office - but the former midfielder has been accused of being a "puppet" for Vladimir Putin.
![[Kavelashvili scored one goal for Man City across four appearances]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/9d7cd984-248f-4dbe-8b60-e92e2aca7ebb.jpg?strip=all&w=667)
The former football star is known for his profanity-laden tirades in Parliament, as an MP since 2016 for the increasingly authoritarian ruling Georgian Dream party. Georgian Dream, founded by billionaire businessman and former Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, has been accused of dragging the country back into Russia's sphere of influence.
![[Kavelashvili is known for his far-right ideologies and his connections to the billionaire oligarch who founded Georgia's ruling party]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgian-president-elect-mikheil-kavelashvili-960356515.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Kavelashvili was the only candidate for the job and is thought to have been picked for his loyalist stances towards Georgian Dream. Kavelashvili was sworn in behind closed doors on Sunday to become Georgia's sixth President. But constitutional law experts -- including one author of Georgia's constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze -- called his election "illegitimate".
![[Supporters of the Georgian opposition take part in a protest action in Tbilisi, Georgia, 28 December 2024]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-georgian-lawmakers-elected-mikheil-960248165.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili has said the same thing of Kavelashvili's appointment. Kavelashvili has previously slammed the West for wanting "as many people as possible (to be) neutral and tolerant towards the LGBTQ ideology, which supposedly defends the weak but is, in fact, an act against humanity".
This comes as a wave of anti-government protests have gripped Georgia in recent months, as foreign powers seek to prevent the country from aiding Putin's effort to overthrow Ukraine. On Friday, Washington imposed sanctions on Ivanishvili, arguing he undermined the country's democratic future for Russia's benefit.
