Mikheil Kavelashvili

Mikheil Kavelashvili
მიხეილ ყაველაშვილი
Kavelashvili in 2025
6th President of Georgia
Assumed office
29 December 2024
Prime MinisterIrakli Kobakhidze
Preceded bySalome Zourabichvili
Member of the Parliament of Georgia
In office
18 November 2016  10 December 2024
Personal details
Born (1971-07-22) 22 July 1971
Bolnisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Political partyIndependent (2024–present)
Other political
affiliations
Georgian Dream (2016–2022)
People's Power (2022–2024)
SpouseTamar Bagration-Davitashvili
Children4
Occupation
  • Politician
  • footballer

Association football career
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1989–1991 Dinamo Tbilisi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1995 Dinamo Tbilisi 132 (80)
1994–1995Alania Vladikavkaz (loan) 24 (12)
1996–1997 Manchester City 28 (3)
1997–1999Grasshoppers (loan) 59 (20)
1999–2002 Zürich 81 (28)
2002–2003 Luzern 25 (5)
2003–2004 Sion 10 (6)
2004–2005 Aarau 16 (8)
2004Alania Vladikavkaz (loan) 7 (0)
2005–2006 Basel 14 (4)
Total 396 (166)
International career
1991–2002 Georgia 46 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mikheil Kavelashvili (Georgian: მიხეილ ყაველაშვილი [miχeil qʼaveɫaʃʷili]; born 22 July 1971) is a Georgian politician and former professional footballer who was sworn in as the sixth president of Georgia on 29 December 2024. His election, the first through an electoral college after constitutional changes in 2017, is being disputed by the Georgian opposition, as well as by significant parts of the Western community. He was the sole candidate for the presidency for the first time in Georgia's history because of the opposition boycott.

As a football player, he was a striker who played in the English Premier League for Manchester City and in the Swiss Super League for a range of clubs. He also played for Dinamo Tbilisi and Spartak Vladikavkaz. He was capped 46 times by the Georgian national football team.