Vitaly Mutko steps down as head of Russian FA and could leave World Cup organising committee to fight IOC ban

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister was banned for life by the IOC this month

Vitaly Mutko was responsible for Russia's successful World Cup bid

Russia Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, banned for life from the Olympics this month, is temporarily stepping down from his role as head of the country's Football Union, he said on Monday.

Mutko, who recently gave an exclusive interview to The Independent, is to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday against the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban him from the Games over allegations of state-sponsored doping, and wishes to focus on those proceedings.

"For the period of the proceedings I will suspend my work at the Russian Football Union for six months," Mutko was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

The IOC said this month it was banning Russia from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics after finding evidence of "unprecedented systematic manipulation" of doping procedures. .

Russia is hosting next year's soccer World Cup in 11 cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sochi.

Mutko also said he was considering resigning as head of the World Cup's organising committee.

Reuters