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why Putin won't fire sports minister over doping scandal

MOSCOW (Reuters) President Vladimir Putin risks personal humiliation if all Russian competitors are banned from the Rio Olympics over doping, as now seems possible; yet the man on whose watch this may happen, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, is not being fired.

The reason: Mutko has delivered victories on the sports field for the past decade and a half to match Putin's ambition of restoring national pride, and the Russian leader stands by the people who give him loyal service.

"Putin trusts him. Putin knows you can work with Mutko," said Mikhail Amosov, who had dealings with both men when they worked in the mayor's office in St Petersburg in the 1990s.

Putin's patience with his subordinate is undergoing its hermes black belt knockoff severest test this week after an independent report alleged that Mutko's own deputy was a lynchpin in a programme to facilitate doping by covering up athletes' positive test results.

The International Olympic Committee, reacting to the report, said on Tuesday it would consider barring Russia from taking part fake hermes mens belt in the Rio games in any disciplines; a step that would be unprecedented in international sport.

The fake hermes black belt Court of Arbitration in Sport cleared the path for a blanket ban on Russian competitors going to Rio when it rejected an appeal on Thursday against the earlier exclusion of Russian track and field athletes from the games.

Nevertheless, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mutko was not among sports officials set to lose their jobs because he was "not mentioned in the . report as a direct perpetrator".

Putin's decision to stand by his minister suggests he values trust and loyalty above narrow definitions of managerial competence.

In the early 1990s Putin worked as a deputy mayor in his native St Petersburg, Russia's second city. Mutko was another deputy mayor, responsible for social spending.

Another colleague from the mayor's office said that at the time Mutko did little to distinguish himself from other mid level bureaucrats.

"He was a hard worker, but did not particularly take initiative," said the former colleague, who did not want to be identified discussing people who are now in positions of power.

While in the mayor's office, Mutko started a project that would define his career. He took under his wing St Petersburg TMs Zenit football club. It had fallen on hard times; it had little money and results on the pitch were poor.

Mutko was club president from 1997 until 2003, and in that period he found money, attracted star players and returned Zenit to the top flight of Russian football.

Alexei Igonin, Zenit's captain in the early 2000s, said Mutko was a hands on president. Players did not use agents because they would negotiate their deals directly with Mutko.

"He has charisma and speaks well, while he mixes in the right circles and gets the contacts he needs," said Igonin.

Mutko's success at Zenit caught the eye of Putin, who had become Russian president in 1999.

"To make Zenit a good soccer club was Mutko's project," said Amosov, who was a member of the St Petersburg legislature in the 1990s and has since became an outspoken Putin critic. "Putin appreciated his performance and took him to Moscow, a move Mutko never desired. It seems to me Putin decided that Mutko can do a lot for Russian sport in general, after doing a lot for Zenit."

In 2005, Mutko became head of the Russian Football Union, and fake hermes belt price set about making changes in the same energetic way he had in St Petersburg.

Vyacheslav Koloskov, the man he replaced, recalled how Mutko took away the company car, the office and pension that he was still enjoying at the union's expense.

Afterwards, said Koloskov, "I met him at different committees and conferences, but he never needed my help and advice, as he always believed he knew everything".

Government auditors queried how he was able to spend 4,800 Canadian dollars (2,786.3) on breakfasts at his hotel during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He said he was assigned the hotel by organisers, so had no control over the costs.

In the same year, Mutko was mocked by many Russians on social media for a speech to FIFA, world football's governing body, in thickly accented and halting English.

For Mutko's 57th birthday last year, Putin ribbed him about his language skills by publicly presenting him with an English phrase book.

The Wall

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