Vitaly Mutko has stepped down from his role on the organising committee for the 2018 World Cup as he fights allegations relating to Russia s state-sponsored doping program.
Mutko, who is Russia s deputy prime minister, was banned by the IOC this month after the release of the Schmid Report.
Commissioned by the IOC, the report confirmed allegations of the widespread manipulation of anti-doping procedures during Mutko s tenure as Russian sports minister, chiefly at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
He is set to challenge the ruling with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, while Russian Football Federation (RFS) director general Alexander Alayev has been named acting president of the governing body in his stead.
FIFA praised Mutko earlier this week after he temporarily stepped down from the RFS and he has continued to scale back his duties, with Alexey Sorokin now taking charge of the World Cup organising committee.
Sorokin will become chairman of the organizing committee of the World Cup 2018. He will interact with the International Football Federation [FIFA], I will coordinate work with the government, Mutko is quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS.
Sorokin has been CEO of the organising committee since 2011 and was elected to the FIFA Council in September 2017.
He told TASS: I am ready to combine my roles, there are no big difficulties, the project is almost done.
