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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Mutko steps down as 2018 WC organising committee chief

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MOSCOW: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, who was banned for life from the Olympic Games this month over doping, said on Wednesday that he is stepping down as chairman of the 2018 World Cup organising committee.


“(Organising committee director Alexei) Sorokin will be the chairman,” Mutko was quoted by Russian agencies as saying, two days after suspending his role as president of the Russian Football Union.


“He is the head of the organising committee starting today,” he said.


Sorokin, 45, had served as the executive director of the Russian Football Union between 2008 and 2010 and has overseen Russia’s World Cup bid since 2009.


“He will interact with Fifa. I will concentrate on work in the government,” Mutko said. “There is still a lot of work but I am absolutely sure that everything will be prepared in time.


“We expect that on May 30 we will meet all the obligations that the government gave Fifa.”


Mutko on Monday announced that he plans to file a claim in the Court of Arbitration for Sport to contest his Olympic ban, and would suspend his duties in the RFU for the duration of the proceedings.


He added at the time that he would continue his role as chief coordinator of preparations for the World Cup Russia will host next summer until Russian leadership decides otherwise.


The Russia-2018 organising committee said in a statement published by TASS agency that that “the change in leadership will have no consequences on the process of preparations for the world championship”. — AFP


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