September 3 – Russian sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has regained the leadership of his county’s national federation warning of virtual bankruptcy, hardly the most positive message as the country builds towards the 2018 World Cup.
Mutko, chairman of the World Cup Organising Committee and a FIFA executive committee member, took over in what was a formality after his only rival for the position, Igor Lebedev, withdrew from the election in July, and now has an all-powerful position.
The Russian Football Union has been without a full-time president since May when Nikolai Tolstykh was sacked after wracking up heavy debts. Mutko, who played a leading role in the country’s bid for the World Cup, promised massive spending after stepping in unopposed to put the federation back on its feet for the next 12 months.
“I have been working as the sports minister for seven years already. However, given the situation that has occurred within our football, I decided to take up the challenge,” he told reporters.
“The most important thing is to pay off the debts that the RFU owes and they are huge. I don’t want to dramatise the situation, but we are basically on the edge of going bankrupt.”
Mutko was president from April 2005 until November 2009 and added: “The first step I will take at the RFU will be to make sure that football is going in the right direction. It is not very good when no one understands who and where all the decisions are being taken.”
New elections will be held in 2016 to elect a head for a four-year term.