President of Georgian Football Federation Arrested
President of Georgian Football Federation Merab Zhordania was arrested on April 7 for alleged misappropriation of 1,3 million Switzerland Francs (approximately USD 1 million), Davit Kezerashvili, chief of the Financial Police said on Thursday.
Zhordania has already been arrested once for alleged tax evasion. He was released in January, 2004 after spending almost a month in a pre-trial custody, following repayment of 742,000 Lari (up to USD 340,000) to the state budget, the sum which Zhordania allegedly misappropriated.
Deputy General Prosecutor Giorgi Janashia told reporters on April 7, that the recent case against Zhordania has nothing common with the previous one and involves illegal transaction of funds of the Tbilisi Dynamo football club, which was not reflected in the account papers of the football club.
This recent arrest of Zhordania follows row between the Georgian Football Federation and the Georgian government over the ticket prices for the World Cup qualification matches. In mid-March President Saakashvili slammed the Football Federation for increase of ticket prices and ordered the law enforcers to probe into the Federation?s activities.
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