On Wednesday, at the top of the Russian management vertical in the field of sports, resonant reshuffles took place. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev substantiated to President Vladimir Putin the expediency of creating the post of Deputy Prime Minister for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy and recommended the Minister of Sports and President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Vitaly Mutko as a candidate for filling the vacancy. Putin immediately approved this candidacy.

Thus, 57-year-old Mutko will become Medvedev's ninth deputy after Igor Shuvalov, Dmitry Kozak, Yuri Trutnev, Olga Golodets, Sergei Prikhodko, Alexander Khloponin, Arkady Dvorkovich and Dmitry Rogozin.

At the same time, there is no talk of the new deputy prime minister leaving the top post in the RFU, to which he was successfully re-elected in early September.

“I am very happy for Vitaly Leontyevich, I treat him with great respect and I think that he deserves the post of Deputy Prime Minister,” the first vice president of the RFU said in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru Nikita Simonyan... - So far, Mutko has not left the RFU, so it is premature to talk about the reshuffle. I think he will continue to lead the organization. "

As Putin said last week during the international forum "Russia is a country of sports," sports, youth and tourism are very close spheres, and therefore they need to be combined into one complex and entrusted with the supervision of this work by one deputy prime minister of the government. It is assumed that in his new capacity, Mutko will primarily concentrate on working issues related to preparing infrastructure for the World Cup. He is also the chairman of the Russia-2018 organizing committee.

In turn, the new Minister of Sports Russian Federation and the 25th in history, 47-year-old Pavel Kolobkov was appointed head of the country's main sports department (if we take into account the times of the Russian Empire and the USSR). Since October 2010, he worked as Mutko's deputy, specializing primarily in the development of summer sports. In particular, Kolobkov was in charge of the preparation of the Russian national teams for the 2012 Olympics and then headed the national delegation at the Games four years ago.

In February 2013, Kolobkov was awarded the Russian President's Certificate of Honor for “successful training of athletes who have achieved high sporting achievements at the Olympic Games in London”.

He was the first in the history of the USSR and Russia to receive the rank of colonel, being at that time an active athlete (in 2004).

“I can only rejoice for Vitaly Leontyevich, congratulate him and wish him the same energy and immersion in the process that he showed as a minister,” the head of the Russian Wrestling Federation said in an interview with Gazeta.Ru Mikhail Mamiashvili... - All the global changes that have taken place in Russian sports and have laid the foundation for many years have happened, among other things, due to these qualities. I expect that with the appointment of Mutko and Kolobkov, the chosen vector of development will remain, despite the existing difficulties in our sport. This rearrangement did not take place for foreign partners. Well, how can the appointment of an outstanding athlete be perceived in the industry to which he has devoted his entire life? "

However, there are sad pages in Kolobkov's managerial career.

In particular, he previously represented Russia in the Council of Founders of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and was also responsible for Paralympic affairs at the Ministry of Sports.

Recall that it was on the initiative of WADA that Russian athletes and Paralympians were not allowed to compete in Rio 2016, and the latter seriously risk being left without the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

At the same time, Kolobkov will become only the second extra-class athlete to head the ministry in the 103-year history of the relevant department. The first was the two-time Olympic hockey champion Vyacheslav Fetisov, who was in charge of Goskomsport in 2002-2004, and Rossport in 2004-2008.

Kolobkov has made a brilliant career in swordsmanship. He performed at five Olympics (in Seoul-1988, Barcelona-1992, Atlanta-1996, Sydney-2000 and Athens-2004) and brought at least one medal from each. The highest success of the Russian is the gold of 16 years ago in the individual championship. In addition, he won the World Championship five times and the European Championship twice. After an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for Beijing 2008, Kolobkov completed his active participation in the competition, focusing on management work. In 2007-2010, the epee fencer held the post of deputy chairman of the VFSO Dynamo CSO.

The appointment of Kolobkov will reduce the relevance of the assumptions circulated in the media about the alleged liquidation of the Ministry of Sports or its reorganization into a different structure, for example, in Federal agency on sports, which existed in Russia earlier.

“I have known Pavel Kolobkov for a long time,” a State Duma deputy, Olympic champion in speed skating, told Gazeta.Ru Svetlana Zhurova.

- He was a strong deputy, who had serious responsibility, including organizing the participation of the Russian national team in Rio, as the head of staff.

He knows sports from the inside as an athlete and functionary. I think this is a completely justified choice. We should not have expected a revolution. There are serious and understandable tasks. We have the world championship ahead, and in tandem with Mutko they must prepare it. This appointment is to strengthen the position of sports in the country.

As for the possible dissolution of the ministry, these are inventions of journalists. There were no prerequisites for this. Perhaps the journalists misinterpreted some of the president's words. At least we knowledgeable people were surprised when we were asked this question.

It was clear that a deputy prime minister would appear who would directly oversee sports, but there was no question of any agency.

- Is the promotion of Mutko and Kolobkov a recognition of the merits of the Ministry of Sports?

- I think this is more a matter of expediency. We thought that it was these people who could more effectively bring our sport out of the crisis. Firstly, they must be responsible for what has already been done before, and secondly, they must continue to get out of the crisis in which the sport of the highest achievements in Russia has fallen. Since they have taken up the preparation of the FIFA World Cup, they must see it through to the end.

As for the post of deputy prime minister for Mutko, we have previously had deputy prime minister who dealt with sports issues along with something else, but now there will be a person who will concentrate on the World Cup and other strategic sports projects.

- Who will now be in charge of the World Cup - the office of the Deputy Prime Minister or the ministry?

- In any case, the Ministry of Sports deals with it only partially. For this there is an organizing committee, which will now be tied directly to the Deputy Prime Minister. And the ministry, as I see it, should focus on the development of sports.

Gazeta.Ru has not yet been able to find out the opinion of the official representatives of the Ministry of Sports about the reshuffle. As the deputy director of the department for the development of physical culture and mass sports of the department told our publication Vladimir Malits, employees are prohibited from giving any comments.

“This can only be done by the minister or, on his instructions, by the appropriate people in the press service,” said the source of Gazeta.Ru. - I myself am not authorized to make public statements. As they say, I do my job, but this is not my function. "

It is important to add that a change of head is being prepared in the near future in the Russian Olympic Committee, which will soon be left by the current head, Alexander Zhukov, who has decided to focus on work in the State Duma.

Among his likely successors, among others, are named three-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling Alexander Karelin and two-time winner of the Olympic Games in pole vaulting Elena Isinbaeva.

One of the most experienced and reputable sports functionaries in the country, long-term head, and now honorary president of the RFU Vyacheslav Koloskov in an interview with Gazeta.Ru he admitted that he does not see any significant advantages from the introduction of a new position in the government.

- If there is a position of Minister of Sports, there can be no Deputy Prime Minister, - he suggested. - It's ridiculous, when there is a struggle to reduce the administrative staff, to have a special deputy prime minister for sports. The Minister of Sports is the Federal Minister. He has enough authority to develop the industry.

Therefore, I believe that if Vitaly Leontyevich is appointed Deputy Prime Minister, he will have a wider range of activities.

- What caused the appearance of such a position?

- It is necessary to ask the country's leadership.

- Are you familiar with Kolobkov?

- Not that I drank with him or steamed in the bath, but I know him, and I know him well. First, he is an outstanding athlete, an Olympic champion. Secondly, for many years he worked as a deputy minister. Thirdly, during this time we had communication, albeit formal. And he gives the impression of a balanced, modern, young, attractive person. If he is really approved, it will be a good minister of sports. Recent results have nothing to do with the structure of the Ministry of Sports. Here we are talking exclusively about individuals. There are no successes in football, to put it mildly, or in sports in general. Therefore, it is hardly worth talking about changes in the structure, only about personalities.

- Does the appointment of Kolobkov to the post of Minister of Sports mean that the reforms of the institution, which were actively discussed in recent times, will not?

- These are completely different things. This is beyond the scope of my idea and worldview. For this there is the presidential administration. Maybe in the future it will be an agency, maybe a ministry, maybe a committee of some kind. Anything is possible, but in this situation it does not matter. The functions remain the same. Therefore, I would not link these two topics directly.

- Will these personnel restructuring be significant in light of the upcoming World Cup?

- Perhaps formally - yes. Deputy Prime Minister, he is also the chairman of the organizing committee of Russia-2018, he is also a member of the FIFA Council. I have served in FIFA for 28 years, but the Deputy Prime Minister was a member of the Council (formerly the executive committee) of FIFA, this has never happened before. But this is all formalism, nobody is interested in it. Especially on the sidelines of FIFA. Much more important is how he works in FIFA, and not in his own country. As for the world championship, then, of course, the Deputy Prime Minister will have more authority to put pressure on someone, demand from someone. Although the Federal Minister also has a lot of powers, the Deputy Prime Minister has more.

You can get acquainted with other news, materials and statistics in the chronicles, as well as in the groups of the sports department on social networks

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko Deputy Prime Minister for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy. The vacant minister's chair will be taken by Deputy Mutko, Olympic champion of Athens and six-time world champion Pavel Kolobkov. "Lenta.ru" understood these personnel changes.

"This was the only official in Smolny who could get to"

Vitaly Mutko's "sports career" began at the St. Petersburg City Hall. Back in 1992, Anatoly Sobchak appointed him his deputy for social affairs, simultaneously giving him oversight and the sporting life of the city. The first project of the young politician was the Goodwill Games, which took place in St. Petersburg from July 23 to August 7, 1994. These competitions were then equated in importance with the Olympics. As a PR event, Sobchak ordered a swim for members of the government in the pool of the Army Sports Club. Vitaly Mutko himself and another deputy of Sobchak, Vladimir Putin, entered the path.

The games were held on a grand scale. There were not many spectators in the stands, but this did not stop Mutko from reporting: thanks to the competition, most of the city's sports facilities were repaired. Surprisingly, over the years, Mutko's rhetoric has hardly changed.

In addition, Mutko took over the patronage of the St. Petersburg football club "Zenith", which was kicked out of the major league and was experiencing great financial problems. According to the then acting. President of Zenit Leonid Tufrin, by the end of 1992 Zenit had accumulated a debt of 17 million rubles. “I remember that my hair stood on end - I have to let the players go on vacation, prepare for the next season, plan the training camps and buy new players, but I just don't have a penny,” Tufrin recalled. Marina Moreva, one of Mutko's assistants in the Committee on Social Policy, saved the day by arranging a meeting between Tufrin and Mutko.

“He had never heard of football at the time, in my opinion, he had absolutely nothing to do with Zenit and showed no interest in him. It was just that he was the only official in Smolny who could be seen, ”Tufrin said.

Supervising Zenit, Mutko, according to various sources, allocated for its financing from the city budget about 400 thousand dollars annually. Thanks to Mutko, Zenit quickly got out of the debt hole, acquired reliable sponsors (for example, the Baltika brewing company) and by the end of the 90s had achieved significant sporting success: in the 1998/99 season it won the Russian Cup for the first time in its history, 2001 - bronze of the Russian championship, in 2003 - silver. True, it was not without scandals: what was the cost of Pavel Sadyrin's unexpected departure from the team. But Mutko was already learning the art of survival then.

For authoritarian methods of management in those years, Mutko was nicknamed Vitalio Berlusconi - in honor of Silvio Berlusconi, the president of FC Milan. By the way, nicknames stick to Mutko with enviable constancy: after Sochi, Medalileontievich appeared on social networks, and Meldoniileontievich appeared in front of Rio. However, all this did not prevent the politician from staying afloat in any situation.

The presidential chair helped Mutko acquire useful contacts and become an influential figure in political circles. Fortunately, people of all levels visited the VIP-box of "Petrovsky". Valentina Matvienko was one of the fans. Having won the gubernatorial elections in 2003, Matvienko did not forget about the president of Zenit, delegating him to the Federation Council, where he was entrusted with the post of head of the committee on youth and sports affairs. So it is not the first time that Mutko will have to be responsible for sports and youth.

In 2001, against the background of the conflict between the President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Vyacheslav Koloskov and the President of the Professional Football League (PFL) Nikolai Tolstykh, Vitaly Mutko was one of the initiators of the creation of the Russian Football Premier League, of which he soon became president. With the arrival of Mutko, the oligarchs were drawn to football. Sport gradually turned into a priority direction for the state.

Bronze Euro

Strengthening his influence, by 2005 Mutko squeezed out of football and unsinkable, as it seemed, Vyacheslav Koloskov. On April 2, 2005, at an extraordinary conference of the RFU, 96 out of 99 members of the executive committee voted for the new president. Then the RFU got involved in a scandal: the heads of FIFA and UEFA threatened to disqualify the Union for state interference in the affairs of the sports federation, but the case was quickly hushed up.

The new head of the RFU actively got down to business: he dismissed the head coach of the Russian national team - Georgy Yartsev, inviting the famous Dutchman Guus Hiddink to this position, who in 2008 led the national team to the bronze medals of the European Championship. This was the last notable success of Russian football.

Mutko was seriously helped by the owner of the Chelsea football club, Roman Abramovich, with whom Koloskov had already agreed a little earlier. From his pocket, the Dutchman was paid a crazy salary - 8 million euros a year. At the same time, using Abramovich's money, Mutko built hundreds of football fields, which he regularly noted during press briefings.

In 2007, Mutko got into an unpleasant story, such that he was publicly reprimanded on TV by Vladimir Putin. The head of the RFU decided to sell the rights to broadcast the matches of the Russian championship to the paid TV channel NTV-Plus for $ 100 million and heard about this: “Together with the chairman, Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko, something has been stirred up again. They want us, ordinary fans, to take away the opportunity to watch football matches for free! " Mutko resisted, as he will later, after the failure at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, and after the meldonium scandal before Rio 2016.

Mutko was appointed to the post of head of the Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy in March 2008 on the initiative of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Rosmolodezh, headed by the former leader of the Nashi youth movement Vasily Yakemenko, was subordinated to Mutko's department. And replaced by Mutko Vyacheslav Fetisov. The legendary hockey player in 2005 supported Mutko in the presidential elections of the RFU, and after only three years he lost his seat to him. President Medvedev completely disbanded Rossport, founding a new department.

After the bronze Euro 2008 in March 2009 at the 33rd UEFA Congress in Copenhagen, Mutko was elected to the FIFA Executive Committee and strengthened his ties in the international arena even without knowing English. In November of the same year, at an extraordinary conference of the RFU, the executive committee of the Union approved Mutko's resignation. But the official regained his seat, squeezing out a longtime rival - the intractable Nikolai Tolstykh.

It is worth mentioning another important area of \u200b\u200bthe official's activity - in November 2009, Mutko was appointed curator of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Russia. After the Olympics in Sochi, this is the main sports start.

Recently, in sports circles, Mutko's imminent resignation has often been discussed, linking this with the recent return to the RFU presidential chair. However, another round of rumors collapsed after the news of the increase.

“The question arises as to how much Mutko will be able in his new position to combine the leadership of the RFU, including the preparation for the 2018 World Cup, with that new block of issues that should be in the sphere of his constant control already in the post of Deputy Prime Minister,” argued in interview with Lente.ru Alexander Pozhalov, Deputy Director of the ISEPS Research Foundation. - I do not exclude that the appointment of Mutko to the post of Deputy Prime Minister is an opportunity to release the Ministry of Sports for a person from the sports environment. Kolobkov is just that. He has authority in relevant circles, including international ones. This is what, in my opinion, Mutko lacked. "

"Funny Uncle"

Putin first spoke about the post of deputy prime minister, which will now go to Mutko, just over a week ago. According to the head of state, he had previously discussed this idea with Medvedev. "Sports, youth, tourism are very close spheres, they need to be combined into one complex and the supervision of this work should be entrusted to one deputy prime minister," the president explained on October 11.

Political analyst Pavel Danilin confirmed in an interview with NSN that this has been discussed for a long time. Mutko was the one who read this post.

Until recently, the supervision of these issues was assigned to various officials. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich was in charge of sports in the government, and his colleague Olga Golodets was in charge of tourism and youth policy.

Working with young people has always been "not tailoring a mare's tail," admits political analyst Alexei Chadayev. According to him, in 2007-2012, when Rosmolodezh was headed by the ideologist of the Nashi movement Vasily Yakimenko, the department was attributed to the area of \u200b\u200bresponsibility of the Ministry of Sports and only then transferred to the Ministry of Education, together with which this direction fell under the wing of Golodets.

But neither youth policy, nor even sports and tourism combined could be the main priority for the supervising deputy prime ministers: Dvorkovich has to primarily deal with the fuel and energy complex, Golodets - the social block. According to ISEPS research director Alexander Pozhalov, these deputy prime ministers have enough tasks of their own; the appearance of another deputy prime minister will not affect their influence in the government.

Although, in general, “Dvorkovich is being cut off on the sly, and this can be seen,” notes Chadayev. ISEPI is confident that the story of the difficult privatization of Bashneft rather than Mutko's rise is capable of knocking down the “energy” deputy prime minister.
At the same time, issues that require strategic support in the government are constantly on the agenda, Pozhalov reminds.

“Major sporting events are planned in the country for the near future: this is the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a year before it - another large football horizontal bar [Confederations Cup], the Universiade,” he says. The emergence of a new Deputy Prime Minister, in his opinion, reflects trends both in the development of mass sports and in the expansion of domestic tourism.

However, against the background of colleagues, including Dvorkovich from Golodets, the reputation of the now former Minister of Sports does not look entirely unambiguous, experts admit: “Mutko was repeatedly blown to smithereens for public blunders”.

“But this is not a problem for an official,” political scientist Chadayev is sure. Moreover, some comicality helps to reduce the degree of claims against the manager. “The funny thing is that it is useful to the system in a way. In such a direction, where there are always some troubles - either the stadium was not built, then something else - just such a "funny guy" should be. Otherwise, he risks becoming a new Zurabov and becoming the most hated minister for society. "

In any case, the transition to the position of the curator is a promotion for Mutko, experts agree. “This is not a downgrade, since Mutko will no longer have operational management of sports, but strategic planning will remain with him,” said Danilin, director of the Center for Political Analysis.

“We have any minister - the boss of some money,” - said Chadayev. Therefore, assessing the degree of influence of officials after the reshuffle, it is worth looking at what will happen “around and around the budget”. “I have a feeling that these movements may have a direct connection with the reallocation of funds,” he says. According to the expert, with the transition of Mutko to deputy prime minister personnel changes the government won't run out.

Not a minister anymore. There has been talk and rumors about Vitaly Leontyevich's resignation from his post for a very long time, and now the point has been set. Only this point is part of the exclamation mark. Mutko leaves the post of Minister of Sports and goes for a formal promotion -. In this chair, Mutko will definitely do a lot that will remain in the centuries and in the memory of the people. We recall things that Vitaly Leontyevich can already be proud of.

Vladimir Central. Where will Minister Mutko's term end?

Fat cats in federations, persuasion of future corrupt officials, rewarding Guberniev - what is happening at the forums "Russia is a country of sports".

Introduction to sports

He started his career in big sports not as president of Zenit, as is commonly believed, but a little earlier. From 1992 to 1996, the young and promising vice-mayor of St. Petersburg for social projects was to hold the Goodwill Games, a kind of mini-Olympics of that time. There was no money in the difficult years of reforms then, experience and administrative resources, too, but Vitaly Leontyevich managed. The games were recognized as one of the best and received high marks from the sports federations.

Gus Ivanovich's invitation

Perhaps Mutko's main success in the football field was in 2006. The head of the RFU, contrary to the opinion of the veterans grumbling about the traditions, decided on a bold move for those times - to put a foreigner at the head of the football team. Yes, what! Guus Hiddink was known in those days as the best specialist in working with national teams. Under his leadership, South Korea and Australia achieved historic successes, and the Netherlands kept their mark. The bet on the ability to bring the team to peak form at the right moment at the 2008 European Championship worked like a Swiss watch. The Russians alternately beat the reigning champions - the Greeks, then the Swedes, and in an epic match, after which it was possible to "finish everything", the Dutch. Hiddink received the honorary patronymic Ivanovich as a prefix to the title and became a popular favorite.

"Let mi speaker from may hart"

Vitaly Mutko's speech in December 2010 in Zurich, where he already as Minister of Sports presented the Russian bid for the 2018 World Cup, became a Youtube hit all over the planet. Despite the funny and hard Russian accent and reading from a piece of paper, she played a positive role in the eyes of the world community. Say, if the minister was able to pronounce it in English, then we will be able to build such diligent roads with stadiums. And most importantly, the minister spoke really from the bottom of his heart.

House of Football - 2. How Vitaly Mutko builds love

Is our football saved after the second coming of Vitaly Mutko?

Order for the capture of Kazan

Another undoubted success of the minister was the holding of the 2013 Summer World Universiade in Kazan on a truly Olympic scale. Russian athletes performed at the games with almost the strongest composition and won the medal standings at one goal, but the level of arenas, infrastructure, the scale of the opening and closing ceremonies were at their best. For this success, the Minister of Sports received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree.

Medaliy Leontievich

After the successful holding of the Olympic Games in Sochi and the victory of the Russian national team in its medal standings, Mutko became one of the most popular ministers in the country. Every day he congratulated the next champions and prize-winners and was firmly associated with their medals, for what. Unfortunately, the glory of this glory may fade if the revelations of the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov will be supported by real evidence.

"No money, Don Fabio, but you hang on there."

Mutko continued the practice of inviting foreign coaches after leaving Hiddink... When the Russian national team made it to the 2012 World Cup for the first time in 12 years, Fabio Capello negotiated an unprecedentedly expensive contract for himself until 2018, including with a minister's visa. And then, as luck would have it, a crisis broke out and problems with sponsors in the RFU, and Capello was left without a salary. In parallel, the national team began to fail the qualifying round for Euro 2016. The way out of this situation was the financial assistance of the RFU from Alisher Usmanov, parting with the Italian by agreement of the parties and the resignation of the head of the RFU Nikolai Tolstykh, whose post was taken by Mutko himself.

Vitaly Meldonievich

The beginning of 2016 turned into a nightmare for Russian sports. Dozens of athletes, including world stars Maria Sharapova, Pavel Kulizhnikov, Yulia Efimova, Alexander Povetkin and others who tested positive for meldonium. The fact that he was included in the list of prohibited drugs from January 1, 2016, "Championship" warned in early October. However, neither the Minister of Sports, nor RusADA initiated studies of its withdrawal period and did not work with athletes. At that moment, Mutko did not really know what to do, but, fortunately, WADA admitted its shortcomings and, in order to avoid a mass of lawsuits, pardoned most of the athletes who had a small concentration of the substance in the sample.

"Know Criminality"

However, the main reason for the minister's resignation is the underestimation of completely different threats - the massive use of much more serious illegal drugs. Knowing and warning everything Alexander Tikhonov now on all talk shows shows a clipping from the 2010 newspaper, where else Jacques Rogge before the Vancouver Olympics, he urged the Russian sports leadership to finally attend to the problem of mass doping in Russian sports. Vitaly Leontyevich called it nonsense and psychological pressure on Russian athletes before the Games. The same was his reaction to the release of the film. Hayo Zeppelt on the German TV channel ARD, the revelations of the couple Stepanovs, the disqualification of all Russian athletics and the exposure of Rodchenkov. Briefly, the minister's explanations can be conveyed in one phrase thrown to foreign journalists: “No criminality”.

Is it too late - or is it too early?

"This never happened when I was born, and now it's the same again!" - said once my favorite Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Usually Viktor Stepanovich's aphorisms reflect Russian reality extremely accurately. The situation in which our sport found itself on the eve of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro is a rare exception.

The phrase "and here it is again the same!" - in this case it is deeply inappropriate. This really "never happened". We are faced with an unprecedented national humiliation, an unprecedented reputational crisis, and an unprecedented management collapse.

Of course, in the history of national sports there were the most different pages... In the period from 1920 to 1948, our country did not participate at all in the Olympic Games. Our representatives were not present either in 1924 in Paris, or in 1932 in Los Angeles, or in 1936 in Berlin. In 1980 we were boycotted. In 1984, we staged a retaliatory boycott - again "got" Los Angeles, which in terms of our participation in the Olympics, apparently, is a "bewitched" city.

But all these offensive moments in history, from my point of view, did not stand close to what is happening now. In all of the above cases, no one encroached on our sporting honor. In all of the above cases, domestic sport was an innocent victim of big politics.

Now the situation is fundamentally different. The country, which is used to considering itself one of the main sports powers in the world, is accused of industrial-scale sports fraud. This is a stigma that will be very difficult for us to get rid of.

Of course, Russian officials, the first violin among which is the profile minister Vitaly Mutko, and now they say: our sport is not to blame for anything. Our sport has again become an innocent victim of big, dirty political intrigues on an international scale. I’ll say right away: I don’t understand big-time sports, I don’t understand the hidden internal mechanisms of its functioning, and therefore I have no moral right to make value judgments about purely sports issues.

But I flatter myself with the hope that I know a little about politics. And therefore I want to state with all responsibility and confidence to Vitaly Mutko: if you seriously think that the phrase "we have become a victim of monstrous intrigues!" is for the leadership of the Ministry of Sports at least some kind of excuse, then you are very much mistaken.

The man who appointed Vitaly Mutko to the post of minister - Vladimir Putin - in September 2004 uttered the following phrase: "They beat the weak!" I fully agree with the President on this issue. I agree and I am 100% convinced: if the Russian sport was able to be “beaten” in full in international sports institutions, then this first of all testifies to the weakness of the Russian sports leadership.

“Let me talk from may hart” - this famous phrase of Vitaly Mutko, pronounced in broken English in Zurich, should no longer be considered just a curiosity and a reason for scabrous jokes. This phrase, in my opinion, also contains an exhaustive explanation of how we got to the point where Russian sport ended up in a hole.

Big sport is, in a managerial sense, the same thing as big politics. Here you need to know all the moves and exits. Here you need to be able to take a punch and fight back. Here you need to know people and be able to speak the same language with them. Vitaly Mutko, apparently, was not such a person.

“We are faced with a cynical, dirty and unprincipled game, which is very clearly played by very skillful people"- this is how an interlocutor from Vladimir Putin's inner circle described to me the cause of the misfortunes that have befallen Russian sports. As I said above, I am ready to accept this version of events. But if Mutko was unable to oppose anything to the "cynical but skillful game", he is clearly not in his place.

However, why am I wasting my time and newspaper space criticizing Vitaly Mutko's professional qualities? It seems to me that there are just one or two people left who consider his work as the Minister of Sports to be successful and useful in the country. Everyone is interested in the question: why is Mutko not retired yet? Why, despite all the new scandals, failures and setbacks, is he still in office?

I believe that the point here is not at all in such a trait of Vladimir Putin as the inability to "surrender our own." Putin is a realist. He understands when the time has come to leave this or that position and move on to the next prepared line of defense. De facto Vitaly Mutko's ministerial career has long come to an end. He completely lost what was in english language characterized by the word credibility - the ability to inspire confidence, authority, persuasiveness. But the fact that Mutko's resignation from the post of Minister of Sports has not yet been formalized has its own reason.

Against the backdrop of the crisis faced by Russian sports, one single ministerial career taken is so, nothing, a bargaining chip. Mutko's resignation should take place at a time when it will bring the greatest political, moral and reputation benefit to the country. Conversely, Mutko's resignation should not lead to deepening of the problems of Russian sports. Putin must choose the right time for personnel changes at our sports Olympus. Perhaps such a moment has already been missed - or has not yet come.

Mutko's dismissal should not look as if Russia succumbed to outside pressure, capitulated, or panicked. Mutko's dismissal should be part of the overall renewal of Russian sports. Currently russian leadership completely lost political initiative in international sports issues. The impression is that Moscow can only powerlessly watch what is happening. This state of affairs must change. New (or well-forgotten old) captains should come to the helm of Russian sports - people with real authority inside and outside the country.

The Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are almost a cut off. Either we will not get to it at all, or we will get to it as a pariah - the "whipping boy" of the Western press and the Western "progressive society". But life doesn't end at the Rio Olympics. We must save the 2018 football championship, which they will definitely try to take away from us. Such statements have already been made by the former head of WADA Dick Pound, who, by the way, started the doping scandal against Russia.

And Vitaly Mutko can make a "feasible contribution" to such salvation - on time to leave the post and head of the Russian Football Union. He is no longer able to render the Motherland a more useful service.

Vitaly Leontievich Mutko - Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation for Construction and Regional Development since May 18, 2018. Earlier in his career, Vitaly Mutko held positions such as Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation (2012-2016), Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation (2008-2012), President of the Russian Football Union (2005-2009 and 2015-2017). Vitaly Mutko was a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation from the executive body of state power of St. Petersburg (2003-2008).

The early years and education of Vitaly Mutko

Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko was born on December 8, 1958 in the village of Kurinskaya, Apsheronsky District, Krasnodar Territory.

Father - Mutko Leonty Mikhailovich - worked as a loader, and my mother was a machine operator at the timber industry enterprise.

Vitaly Mutko studied well at school. The parents had no trouble with him. He dreamed of long journeys and after finishing the 8th grade he went to enter Rostov-on-Don at the river school, but could not pass the entrance exams. Nevertheless, carried away by his dream, the young man did not lose heart. Vitaly went to Leningrad and entered a construction vocational school, from where a year later he transferred to a professional nautical school in Petrokrepost, from which he graduated with honors and received a diploma of a mechanic. By the way, it was in the nautical school that Vitaly Mutko became “Vitaly”.

The future vice-premier and president of the Russian Football Union Vitaly Mutko changed his name while studying at the technical school of water transport in the city of Shlisselburg (GPTU No. 226 of the river fleet). “He changed his name: he came to us as Victor, and when he finished, he took the name Vitaly. I don’t know the reasons. And I'm not sure if it's worth focusing on this. Although his name was Vitya, and this name is suitable for both Viktor and Vitaly, "the head teacher of the vocational school said in an interview with" Sovetsky Sport " Zinaida Ekhropova.

In the same interview, the head teacher also said that the English language, for which Vitaly Leontyevich is now "famous", in educational institution they did not teach enough, but the future sports minister loved literature. Mutko himself, during a meeting with participants and volunteers of the World Festival of Youth and Students, said that he suffered from bullying in the river school.

After graduating from vocational school in 1977, Vitaly Mutko worked for two years as a sailor in the Leningrad seaport on excursion motor ships and dry-cargo ships "river-sea", according to his biography on the website of RIA Novosti. Mutko sailed abroad as well.

In 1980, Mutko became a member of the CPSU. Soon he was promoted to work in the executive committee of the Kirovsky District Council of People's Deputies of Leningrad, where he worked as an instructor, head of the department for social issues, and secretary of the district executive committee. In 1990-1991, Vitaly Mutko was chairman of the executive committee of the Kirovsky District Council of People's Deputies, and in 1991-1992. - Head of the Kirovsky District Administration

Having become the chairman of the Kirovsky District Council, Mutko graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Water Transport with a degree in mechanical engineer on ship vehicles (1987). In the next decade, he received another education. Already in 1999, being the president of FC Zenit, Vitaly Mutko graduated from the law faculty of St. Petersburg University.

Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko did not miss the opportunity to raise the level of his education. Having received a law degree, Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko entered St. Petersburg University, now at faculty of Economics... And in 2006 he defended his Ph.D. thesis at the State University of Economics and Finance.

Sports and career of Vitaly Mutko

Since 1992, Mutko, thanks to friendly relations with Anatoly Sobchak, became a member of the city administration, became a vice-mayor. At the same time, he worked in the government of the Northern capital Vladimir Putin... Under Sobchak, Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko was the chairman of the St. Petersburg mayor's committee on social issues.

In 1994 Vitaly Leontievich became a co-founder of the Golden Pelican charitable society of the Northern capital. After Sobchak's defeat in the 1996 elections, Mutko resigned from his post, at the same time Putin also left his post.

In the photo: Vitaly Mutko and Russian President Vladimir Putin (left to right) (Photo: Alexey Nikolsky / TASS)

Later Vitaly Leontievich became the president and one of the owners of FC Zenit. While still in the civil service and supervising the sports club, Mutko, according to the press, allocated $ 400,000 annually from the city budget to finance it. Later, with the assistance of Vladimir Putin, Vitaly Mutko attracted the Baltika Brewing Company as a sponsor of the football club. Taimuraza Bolloeva, says the biography of the politician on the website "Know everything".

In 2001, Vitaly Mutko was the initiator of the emergence of the RFPL (Russian Football Premier League), uniting the professional clubs of the top division, which he headed. After 2 years, he started working in the Federation Council. Until 2008, Vitaly Mutko worked in the Federation Council, in addition, since 2007, the position of a representative in the Federation Council from the government of St. Petersburg appeared in his biography.

In the photo: Vitaly Mutko (Photo: Igor Utkin / TASS)

In 2005, Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko headed the Russian Football Union, 96 out of 99 members of the RFU executive committee voted for his candidacy. In 2006, Mutko became a member of the FIFA Technical Committee and Development Committee.

On November 24, 2009, two changes took place at once in Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko's career history - he resigned from a leading position in the RFU, but was elected head of his Board of Trustees.

In 2011, Vitaly Mutko was approved as Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Status of Players and Agency Activities of the European Football Union, and also joined the Supervisory Board of the autonomous non-profit organization “Organizing Committee Russia 2018”.

In 2013, Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko again entered the FIFA Executive Committee.

In the photo: Vitaly Mutko (Photo: DPA / TASS)

On September 2, 2015, Vitaly Mutko was re-elected President of the RFU. A year later, Mutko was re-elected for a new four-year term.

In the summer of 2016, after the failure of the Russian national team at Euro, the ex-coach of the Russian national team, who was a candidate for president of the RFU Valery Gazzaev said that the head of the football union, Vitaly Mutko, should have been held responsible for the failures at Euro 2016, and not just the mentor Leonid Slutsky.

In the photo: Leonid Slutsky, players of the Russian national football team Roman Shirokov, Vasily Berezutsky and Vitaly Mutko (from left to right) (Photo: Vladimir Gerdo / TASS)

“When the president of the RFU declares that we have“ players of this level, ”it means that he does not understand football. The players are good, you just have to work with them, study. You can't put all the blame on them. And not only Slutsky had to write a statement after the failure, but also the president of the RFU. However, apparently, the Minister of Sports forbade him, ”Gazzaev said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg, subtly hinting at two positions of Vitaly Mutko.

On October 19, 2016 Vitaly Leontievich Mutko was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy.

In 2017, RFU President Vitaly Mutko did not pass the FIFA test and could not nominate himself to the council of the International Football Federation. The formal reason for this decision was the fact that Mutko, in addition to the post of President of the RFU, holds the post of Deputy Prime Minister in the Russian government.

On December 25, 2017, Vitaly Mutko suspended his activity as head of the RFU, according to his biography on Wikipedia. Alexander Alaev was appointed acting head of the RFU. Also at the end of December 2017, Vitaly Leontievich Mutko left the post of chairman of the organizing committee of the World Cup "Russia 2018"

In the photo: the head of the RFU Vitaly Mutko (Photo: Sergey Bobylev / TASS)

In May 2018, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, during a meeting with the United Russia faction in the State Duma, announced his proposed composition of the future government. Medvedev nominated acting Deputy Prime Minister for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Vitaly Mutko for the post of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of construction. In place of Mutko was recommended Olga Golodets, who previously supervised health care, education, culture, tourism, social sphere.

“Vitaly Leontyevich has experience in construction. At the very beginning of his activity as Minister of Sports, there was a program for the construction of artificial fields throughout Russia, and then he oversaw the construction of arenas for the World Cup ", the chairman and general director Organizing Committee "Russia-2018" Alexey Sorokin.

The new appointment of Vitaly Mutko caused a heated discussion on the Internet, many representatives of Russian sports were surprised that Vitaly Leontyevich would continue to work in the government after the failures of recent years. The news reported that the very announcement of the name of Mutko Medvedev was made with laughter in the audience.

Mutko joined the new government and received the post of Deputy Prime Minister for Construction and Regional Development.

In the course of the Direct Line program in 2018, sailors made a joking request to the President to allow them to paint on the sides of the ships of Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko so that they would be unsinkable.

According to Vladimir Putin, there is a lot of talk about Mutko, but one should turn to the actual parties and see how much has been built in the field of sports. The head of state noted that a lot had been done, including the infrastructure for the Sochi Olympics and the stadiums for the FIFA World Cup.

“I do not proceed from emotional assessments, but from realities. But there is one more thing - what kind of attack was used on him in terms of doping. In these circumstances, it would be unfair to send him to retire. Mutko has good potential, let him work, ”Putin's news was quoted as saying.

Vitaly Mutko was awarded the Orders of Honor (1994), Friendship (2002), "For Services to the Fatherland" IV degree (2008), medals "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg" and "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan".

In the photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko (left to right) during the ceremony of presenting state awards of the Russian Federation (Photo: Alexey Nikolsky / TASS)

The famous speech "From May Hart", and other quotes from Mutko

In December 2010, Mutko appeared in the press as one of the members of the Russian delegation in the elections of the country - the organizer of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. By the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee, the holding of the 2018 World Cup was entrusted to Russia. In the press and on the Internet, Mutko's speech at the presentation of the Russian application in Zurich, delivered by him “in English, but with a terrible Russian accent”, was widely discussed.

If the Russian Minister of Sports had delivered his speech in Zurich in Russian, it would probably not have received much attention. But he spoke it in English. And he became a hero of the Internet.

Applause in the meeting room of FIFA headquarters was heard after the second phrase. The phrase was: "Lec mi spik from may hart in english" (let me speak English from the bottom of my heart). It was spoken with a monstrous accent. Then the accent grew stronger, the bloopers became brighter. "Imagin" (imagine) with an emphasis on the first "and". Boys in Girls (boys in girls) instead of Boys and Girls (boys and girls). The word "ox" (wall), pronounced as a separate phrase, described Mutko's speech "KP".

In 2015, Vladimir Putin congratulated the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko on his 57th birthday and presented him with a self-instruction manual in English and an English-Russian phrasebook as a gift. Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev did not stay away from the general humorous mood, and congratulated Vitaly Mutko in broken English on the official account of the Russian government on Instagram: “Happy birthday, Vitaly Leontyevich. E new era fo ze wald bigan! "

In the photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko (left to right) (Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS)

In 2016, Dmitry Medvedev continued to joke about Mutko, and introduced the members of the government to the appointed Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko with his famous phrase. “Well, let mi speaker from may hart in rushen ( Let me speak from my heart in Russian). Before we begin the government meeting, I will once again introduce you to our colleagues, both old and new. This is Vitaly Mutko, who is now our deputy prime minister, he is responsible for sports, tourism and youth policy, ”the news agencies quoted Medvedev as a joke.

In the photo: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (left to right) (Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS)

Vitaly Mutko is generally known for eloquence, many of his phrases not only in English get into the headlines and go to the people, quotes diverge along with expressive photos on social networks. I remember his answer to Dmitry Medvedev's question "What about football, Vitaly Leontyevich?" Mutko confidently declared: "We will tear everyone apart in football." This was in 2017.

At the same time, in the fall of the same year, commenting on the news about the doping charges against the Russian national team players, Vitaly Mutko said: "If we play doping like that, what will happen without him?"

“Some Ronaldo with 100 million followers on Instagram will say that something is wrong, and then we will make excuses,” I also remember Vitaly Mutko's quote before the Confederations Cup.

Scandals involving Vitaly Mutko

The name of Vitaly Mutko was repeatedly mentioned in the report of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission, published in 2016. WAD informant Grigory Rodchenkov even said that at one of the meetings with Vitaly Mutko, the Deputy Prime Minister allegedly asked his client to add doping to the urine of a Ukrainian competitor, and this allowed the Russian athlete to win.

In 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne dismissed the claim of the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes did not participate in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Kremlin expressed regret over the CAS verdict, and two-time Olympic pole vaulting champion Yelena Isinbayeva compared the situation to an athletics funeral.

Responsibility for the current situation with Russian athletes is borne by the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko and the head of the Russian Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov, said the honorary president of the ROC Leonid Tyagachev... The Communist Party proposed raising the question of Vitaly Mutko's resignation.

In the photo: Russian Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko and President of the Russian Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov (left to right) (Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS)

Later, Leonid Tyagachev called on Mutko to counterattack more actively, citing examples of the use of doping by athletes from other countries.

Four-time Olympic champion, biathlete Alexander Tikhonov in an interview with a correspondent of "SP" noted: "Mutko should not have been promoted, but punished. Mclaren reproached us just for this. You, he said, deny that doping is supported at the state level in Russia? But the sports minister, who was stripped of his accreditation, was promoted - made deputy prime minister. "

In 2016, Mutko noted that Russia could stop funding (WADA) if RUSADA is not reinstated.

In the photo: Vitaly Mutko at a press conference on the situation with doping in Russia (Photo: AP / TASS)

In mid-November 2017, the Board of Founders of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided not to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). The media noted that this could lead to the fact that Russia in its entirety will not be allowed to the Olympics.

On December 5, Russia waited for the sad news, the Russian national team was suspended from participation in the 2018 Olympics. At the 2018 Olympic Games, only "clean" athletes will be admitted from Russia, who will be prohibited from using Russian symbols and the national anthem. In addition, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko, as well as former Deputy Minister of Sports Yuri Nagornykh were barred from attending all Olympics for life.

Samuel Schmid - Head of the Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) - I am convinced that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, who served as head of the Russian Ministry of Sports during the 2014 Games in Sochi, was responsible for systematic violations of anti-doping rules.

In the photo: Vitaly Mutko at the XXII Winter Olympic Games (Photo: Artem Korotaev / TASS)

Schmid said this at a special press conference in Lausanne. According to him, the disciplinary commission concluded that there was a systematic manipulation of anti-doping rules and the system as a whole, the news reported.

Vitaly Mutko said that our athletes who still want to compete at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games under a neutral flag will receive comprehensive support. “I don’t want to assess the IOC’s decision regarding me personally,” Mutko stressed. - This is not the time to think about yourself. First of all, it is necessary to protect the athletes, to do so as to provide them with any support both in protecting their honest name and in participating in the Olympic Games. "

But the position of Vitaly Mutko and his actions to protect the slandered athletes caused a storm of indignation. In connection with the doping scandal, the public demanded his resignation, and the State Duma deputy from the Communist Party faction Valery Rashkin even tried to sue Mutko.

“It was necessary to do everything possible and impossible for Mr. Mutko so that we could participate in the Olympics,” Rashkin emphasized, adding that the Deputy Prime Minister's practical inaction led to the shame of the whole country, therefore he demands an apology from him and immediate resignation.

However, the Savelovsky court of the Russian capital did not accept the lawsuit of the deputy demanding the resignation of Vitaly Mutko. As reported in the news with reference to the press secretary of the court, Maria Mikhailova, the issue of the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister falls within the powers of Russian President Vladimir Putin, therefore the court cannot decide it.

Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko's income

According to the declaration, Vitaly Mutko's income from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 amounted to 9 million rubles, according to the Championship. Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko owns an apartment with an area of \u200b\u200b252.7 sq. m (he owns a third of the share) and an apartment of 150.8 sq. m (a quarter of a share). Also, the former Minister of Sports declared a Mercedes-Benz E350 car.

Personal life and hobbies of Vitaly Mutko

Vitaly Leontyevich's wife - Tatiana Ivanovna Mutko - worked in the personnel of the Baltic Shipping Company. She is currently a housewife.

In the photo: Vitaly Mutko with his wife Tatyana (Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS)

The Mutko family has two daughters. The eldest Elena was born in 1977, she is an entrepreneur, the youngest was born in 1985 and was educated in faculty of Law SPbSU.

Vitaly Mutko loves piano music. He likes films with Roberta de Niro and Richard Gere... Favorite books of Mutko - stories Jack London and "Two Captains" Veniamin Kaverin.