Vitaly Mutko has stepped down as head of next year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The country’s deputy prime minster had already temporarily stood down as President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) for six months to fight his lifetime ban from the Olympic Games.
He has now also resigned as head of the Russia 2018 Organizing Committee, saying he wants to focus on “government work.”
Mutko was banned from the Olympic Games for life by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier this month for his role in the “systemic manipulation” of anti-doping results at events including Sochi 2014.
There was no evidence linking Mutko, Sports Minister from 2008 to 2016, or President Vladimir Putin with the scandal.
But a report from the IOC’s Schmid Commission into Russian doping ruled that, as head of the department, Mutko was ultimately responsible.
The World Cup Organizing Committee will now be led by Alexei Sorokin, reports have said.
By Dan Palmer
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.Â