June 28 – Georgia’s Euro 2024 heroes are set to receive a $10.75 million gift from the country’s billionaire ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili after they stunned Portugal in the competition’s greatest ever upset to reach the knockout stage.
Ivanishvili, who founded the ruling Georgian Dream political party and became prime minister of the country in 2012, said he would donate the same sum to the squad and coaching staff should they also beat Spain in the last 16.
Ivanishvili was born in Georgia and established his fortune in Russia in the 1990s with investments in banking, computers and metals.
The country’s richest man, his wealth is estimated by Forbes at around £3.87 billion and the Georgian Dream party says the donations will come from Ivanishvili’s charitable foundation.
Although he stepped down as prime minister after just 12 months in the job, Ivanishvili still has an influence within the country’s ruling party as its honorary chairman.
In April, many players from Georgia’s Euro 2024 squad spoke out against the Georgian Dream party after the announcement of a law on “foreign agents”.
The law, which was enacted in parliament in June, sparked some of the biggest protests seen in Georgia since the country declared its independence in 1991 as critics said the bill threatened their civil liberties.
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