Before becoming President of Georgia, Mikheïl Kavelashvili was a footballer and spent most of his career in Switzerland.
Freshfocus/Imago
Gilbert Gress was initially intrigued. When he came across the images of the inauguration of Mikheïl Kavelashvili (53), new president of Georgia, the former emblematic coach of Neuchâtel Xamax winced. This face seemed familiar to him. A few seconds later, the light came back. “It’s really him!” he exclaimed.
Before finding himself at the head of his country, Mikheïl Kavelashvili lived another life. That of a footballer. Which led him to play in Switzerland, from 1997 to 2008 – the year of his last appearance in an official match. A long stint interspersed with an adventure of a few months in Russia, in 2004. Arriving at Grasshopper in 1997 from Manchester City, then a resident of the 2nd English division, the Georgian striker with 46 caps for the national team (9 goals) is then passed through FC Zurich, Lucerne, Sion, Aarau and Basel. Nice trip, punctuated by a championship title in his first season at GC as well as a Swiss Cup won in 2000 with Gilbert Gress’s FCZ.
A complete attacker
The Franco-Swiss technician is the one under whom Mikheïl Kavelashvili has played the most during his career (3914 minutes in 47 matches according to the Transfermarkt database). He remembers “a good, complete player”. “He was very intelligent, understood football perfectly,” he explains. Technically he was strong, we didn’t take the ball easily from him. In the area, he was formidable. He didn’t need many chances to score. And he participated both in the game and in defensive tasks.
“He was a technical leader but he put himself at the service of the collective”
Mikheïl Kavelashvili in the Grasshopper jersey, in 1998.
Andy Mueller/freshfocus
Marco Pascolo and Frédéric Chassot also worked with him during his time in Zurich (the second named would later meet him in Sion). “He was a technical leader but he put himself at the service of the collective. He’s someone who played for the team,” remembers the former Valais goalkeeper. “Physically he was very powerful. Not fast but hardworking. When he lost the ball, he invested,” points out the Fribourgeois for his part.
Model teammate
Mikheïl Kavelashvili, author of 55 goals in 160 matches in the Swiss first division, also left excellent memories on a human level. “It was ideal for a coach,” insists Gilbert Gress. He was thoughtful, calm, composed. And reserved. He was not a leader of his words. If someone had told me that he would become president, I would not have believed it!”
“He was not a leader of his words. If someone had told me that he would become president, I would not have believed it!”
Marco Pascolo qualifies: “He was humble and respectful but had adapted remarkably to the group. A nice guy, smiling and funny. He and I loved to sleep in training. He was quite a tease. Frédéric Chassot confirms: “He was deadpan, very pleasant to be around and always positive. A very good teammate. I remember that he picked up the balls before everyone else, even the staff. This shows its simplicity.
“Oriented towards accepting others and sharing”
His penchant for politics was less obvious, however. Chassot had just noticed a citizen involved: “He held the position of secretary general of an association of Georgian footballers and was keen to return to live in his country in the long term. He was concerned about the fate of Georgia.
“I am really surprised to see him today taking ultra-conservative and anti-Western positions”
Close to Kavelashvili when they shared the attacking front at FC Zurich and Sion, the man who converted to coaching – without much success so far – has maintained links with his former partner. Of which he struggles to understand the values he defends: “I knew Mikheïl focused on accepting others and sharing. I am really surprised to see him today taking ultra-conservative and anti-Western positions.”
The outgoing president judges it illegitimate
Because of his far-right line, Mikheïl Kavelashvili is not unanimously accepted at home. His inauguration was held behind closed doors in Parliament on Sunday. An unprecedented event in the history of Georgia, motivated by fear of protests. His detractors accuse him of being manipulated by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, a sympathizer of Vladimir Putin, founder of the Georgian Dream party now in power and unofficial leader of the country since 2012. Salomé Zourabichvili, the outgoing pro-Western president, refuses to she to surrender her mandate, judging her successor illegitimate.
The arrival of Mikheïl Kavelashvili is contested by pro-Europeans in Georgia.
AFP
The teasing with Marco Pascolo in training seems a long way away. From another time.
