Sports
09:35, 08-Dec-2017
World Cup organizer Vitaly Mutko comments after lifetime Olympics ban
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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said in Moscow that being given a lifetime Olympic ban doesn't have any impact on his current work with FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association).
As he said, "this doesn't affect our work in any way. You know that in FIFA's statement today they said it doesn't affect our cooperation for the World Cup preparations. I have some other responsibilities I'm working on. I'm not competing in competitions so I don't see any problems here. We will continue to work until this work is laid on us."
Vitaly Mutko has been given a lifetime Olympic ban. /VCG Photo
Vitaly Mutko has been given a lifetime Olympic ban. /VCG Photo
Mutko heads the organizing committee of football's next World Cup. As sports minister in 2014, he was deeply implicated in the Sochi doping plot by two International Olympic Committee commissions and a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation.
On Tuesday he was barred for life from the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC also banned the Russian national team from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics amid allegations of state-sponsored doping.
It stated that the "clean" Russian athletes must be allowed to compete under the neutral flag and the acronym OAR (Olympic Athletes from Russia) in S. Korea.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the government would cheer for any Russian athletes like they were competing for Russia.