New Russian FA President Hints at Debts Investigation

© RIA Novosti . Vitaly Belousov / Go to the mediabankNikolai Tolstykh
Nikolai Tolstykh  - Sputnik International
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The newly elected Russian FA president Nikolai Tolstykh has vowed to investigate purported massive debts at the organization run up by the previous administration.

The newly elected Russian FA president Nikolai Tolstykh has vowed to investigate purported massive debts at the organization run up by the previous administration.

The Russian Football Union elected Tolstykh, the executive director of the Russian Olympic Committee, to the presidency on Monday.

The FA president's job had been vacant since Sergei Fursenko stood down in the wake of Russia's Euro 2012 group stage exit.

Some reports in the Russian media suggest that during Fursenko's widely criticized reign the FA's debt reached as high as €24.5 million.

Inflated salaries wages of the coaching staff and player bonuses were identified as the main culprits, along with possible corruption.

"As for the amount of debt of the FA, I'm not familiar with the documents from which the sum mentioned in the media follows," Tolstykh said.

"I suppose that in this case, on the base of the documents, we need to get to the bottom of it, so that the funds intended for football stay in football. People who have made these debts will have to give explanations. These problems need to be removed so that Russian football won't suffer."

Tolstykh narrowly beat Russian Premier League chief Sergei Pryadkin in a run-off vote for the presidency.

The vote is seen as a victory for the Russian Sports Ministry, whose chief Vitaly Mutko, an ardent advocate of an FA shakeup, publically supported Tolstykh in the run-up to the election.

Mutko publically criticized many of Fursenko's initiatives, including the switch from the summer to the winter league.

 

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