Former AC Milan and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has announced his retirement.

Shevchenko has quit football to begin a career in politics, he said in a statement from his club Dynamo Kyiv late on Friday.

"Perhaps, I will shock everyone: my future has nothing to do with soccer," Shevchenko said. "It is related to politics."

Another famous Ukrainian athlete, heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, already runs a political party called Udar [Strike].