Russia back in Fifa Council after Mutko’s ouster

Geneva: Russia has regained its place on the Fifa Council, six months after Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko was blocked from re-election.

Uefa member federations on Wednesday elected Alexei Sorokin, CEO of the 2018 World Cup organising committee, by acclamation as one of their delegates to Fifa’s strategy-setting committee. The seat, which runs through 2021, was vacant since May when Mutko was formally forced to step down. Mutko’s candidacy was blocked by Fifa’s then governance committee chairman, Miguel Maduro, because of a conflict of interest with his government work.