May 23 – Alexey Sorokin, the public face of next year’s World Cup in Russia, seems almost certain to be nominated for a place on the FIFA Council in place of the barred Vitaly Mutko in order to ensure his country retains a powerful voice at FIFA’s top table.
Mutko, one of the most powerful figures in world sport, failed an eligibility test earlier this year because of a clash between his sporting and political interests.
UEFA are holding a one-off special election in September for the one remaining European place on the FIFA Council rendered vacant by Mutko’s ineligibility together with the withdrawal of former President of the Icelandic federation, Geir Thorsteinsson.
Whoever is elected will complete UEFA’s eight-strong contingent on the 37-member FIFA Council and Sorokin, who has already expressed an interest, now seems increasingly likely to stand.
Russian politician Igor Lebedev, who is also on the board of the Russian Football Union, told Tass: “In September we have a chance to return to our seat in the FIFA Council. Sorokin is being invited to be pushed to UEFA … so we will not lose our representative.”
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