Russian football elects oil exec as new chief

MOSCOW: Russia’s Football Union on Friday elected a top oil executive as its new chief following the resignation of a deputy prime minister embroiled in a state-sponsored doping scandal.

RFU representatives voted unanimously to elect Alexander Dyukov, chief executive of Gazprom Neft, to an 18-month term.As well as leading Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of state-run energy giant Gazprom, the 51-year-old Dyukov also heads the board of directors of Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg.

He was the only candidate in the running to replace Vitaly Mutko.Mutko was in 2017 banned for life from the Olympic Games for his alleged role in a state-orchestrated doping programme.