July 12 – Russia’s deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko, who infamously stepped down from all his footballing roles after having been accused of being involved in state-sponsored doping – allegations he denied – has won his appeal against being banned from the Olympics for life.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled the IOC did not have the power to sanction Mutko in 2017 because he wasn’t an athlete, coach or officially part of an Olympic delegation.
In response an IOC statement said: “The IOC takes note of the decision of CAS, which relates exclusively to the formal question of the sanctioning power of the IOC for people outside of the Olympic movement.
“At the same time, the decision makes it clear that the IOC retains the right of taking any decision in reference to any specific edition of the Olympic Games.”
Mutko, Russia’s former sports minister, stood down as president of the Russian Football Union to contest the IOC ban and also quit his role as chief organiser for the 2018 World Cup in Russia six months before the tournament.
He has always denied being part of a state-sponsored doping programme but Russia was banned from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Last February Alexander Dyukov, chief executive of oil giant Gazprom, was named as Vitaly Mutko’s replacement as RFU chief.
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