Russian PM signs decree to dismiss Mutko from 2018 World Cup organising committee

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree to exclude his deputy Vitaly Mutko from the supervisory board of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for Russia FIFA World Cup 2018, according to the legal information portal.

Under the decree, Alexey Sorokin, the LOC director general, will replace Mutko as the committee's chairman.

Mutko announced his decision to resign as the LOC Chairman in late December, after the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban him for life from attending all Olympic-related events. He also suspended his activities as the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), reports Tass news agency.

The LOC Russia-2018 for the preparations and organisation of the 2018 FIFA World Cup was established by the Russian government and the Russian Football Union (RFU) in January 2011.

Mutko held the posts of the LOC Chairman and of a deputy chair of the LOC Supervisory Board.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 cities across Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.

--IANS

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