IOC Head Annoyed by Mutko's Appointment as Russian Deputy Prime Minister

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach was annoyed by the decision of the Russian Presidentto appoint Vitaly Mutko as the deputy prime minister, Hajo Zeppelt, a journalist with the German ARD broadcaster and the author of documentaries on alleged doping abuse in Russian athletics, said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On October 19, 2016, Putin signed a decree appointing then Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko for the post of the deputy prime minister in charge of sports, tourism and youth policy. Deputy Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov was appointed as the new sports minister.

IOC inside talk: BACH was annoyed at PUTIN'S decision to appoint Mutko, suspected of doping cover up, to russian vice pm.Relation suffering?

— Hajo Seppelt (@hajoseppelt) January 9, 2017

​In December 2014, ARD released a film titled "The Doping Secret: How Russia Creates Champions" on alleged doping abuse and corruption in Russian sports. The film was followed up by documentaries with further allegations.

In June 2016, ARD said that Mutko and Deputy Sports Minister Yuri Nagornykh were allegedly involved in covering up a positive doping test of Russian football player from "Krasnodar" football club in 2014.