The talismanic striker, who turned out for his final appearance for
Ukraine when it hosted Euro 2012 last month, told his fans he was
quitting all football after watching a match of Dynamo Kiev.

“Probably, I will shock all of you. My future will not be linked to
football in any way… It will be linked to politics. I hope for your
support,” he said in a statement on the Dynamo Kiev website.

Shevchenko added later Saturday he had decided to join a pro-business
party called Ukraine Forward! whose leader, Nataliya Korolevska, has
broken away from the opposition party of jailed ex-prime minister Yulia
Tymoshenko…Continue to read his other statement.

“I want to fulfil myself in politics and share the experience I
gained in Europe, do something for my country,” Shevchenko said while
visiting a children’s home with Korolevska, according to a statement
released by the party.

“I decided to join the team of Nataliya Korolevska because Ukraine
Forward! is a party of the future, it is a party of young leaders,” he
said.

“In politics, I plan to support the social sector and sport. After
all, my main slogan is a healthy mind in a healthy body,” he said.

Shevchenko first emerged in the 1990s at Dynamo Kiev. He collected
the European footballer of the year award in 2004 during a seven-year
spell with AC Milan.

After an often frustrating stint at Chelsea, he returned to Kiev for the last years of his career.

Ukraine Forward! is a new political force seen as a pro-business
party which has no lawmaker in parliament but is hoping to win seats in
October’s parliamentary elections.