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MUTKO, Vitaly Leontevich

Minister of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation

Vitaly Mutko (Виталий Леонтьевич Мутко) was born December 8, 1958 in the village of Kurinskaya, near Tuapse, Krasnodar Territory. The former head of the Russian Football Union, he has been the Russian minister of sport, tourism and youth policy since May 2008.  

Mutko has a broad education, graduating with various qualifications in sailing and mechanical engineering from academies In Petrokrepost, and St Petersburg in the Leningrad Region in the 1980s. In 1999 he graduated from the law faculty of St Petersburg State University. Seven years later he received a PhD in economics from the same institution. 

From 1977 to 1978 Mutko served as a seaman, initially working on the Vladimir Ilyich steamship, running excursions to Valaam and Kizhi. He also worked in the port of Hamburg.

During his studies and early career Mutko was a Komsomol activist, heading the college Komsomol organization. In 1979 he joined the Communist Party.

In 1983, Mutko was assigned to work at the Executive Committee of the Kirov District Soviet of People's Deputies in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). He worked as an instructor and headed the department for social issues. By 1990 he had risen to secretary and then chairman of the executive committee. In the same year Mutko with other district chairmen set up the Council of Chairmen. 

By 1991 Mutko had become the head of administration of the Kirov District. In the same year he supported Mayor Anatoly Sobchak during the August putsch and, according to media reports, even organized meetings of workers from the Kirov factory against the conspirators. In 1992 Mutko was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg and chairman of the mayor's committee on social issues, through which he advised on matters relating to culture, public health and sport. Mutko's position in Sobchak's administration allowed him to work with a number of politicians who would go on to become very influential. His term of office coincided with Vladimir Putin's tenure at the head of the municipal committee on external relations in the St. Petersburg administration.

In 1994 Mutko coordinated the organization of the Summer Goodwill Games held in St Petersburg. When Sobchak was replaced in 1996, a number of his proteges, including Mutko left the administration.

From 1997 to 2003 Mutko was president of St Petersburg-based Zenit football club. he oversaw the sale of 25 percent of the club's shares to Gazprom affiliate Lentransgaz.  This was quickly followed by further sales to a series of banks before Gazprom became the main sponsor in 1999. Zenit achieved impressive results on the pitch under Mutko, coming third place in the domestic league in 2001 and second in 2003.

In 2000 Mutko returned to mainstream politics, as one of Vladimir Putin's authorized representatives in his election campaign. In the same year he headed the electoral staff of Valentina Matviyenko, a candidate for governor of St. Petersburg.  Although she withdrew from this campaign, she was to be elected to the position three years later.

From August 2001 to October 2003 Mutko was president of the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL). Later the same month, newly elected Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko appointed Mutko as Federation Council representative for the St. Petersburg government. Within the Federation Council, he was a member of the Committee on Federation and Regional Policy Issues and chairman of the Commission on Youth and Sport Affairs.

On April 2, 2005 Mutko was elected president of the Russian Football Union (RFS), with the backing of 96 out of 99 executive committee members of the union. Mutko announced that his priorities as president would be the following: adopting a state-sponsored football development initiative, establishing the necessary conditions to boost public involvement in the sport, both as spectators and players. At the beginning of his tenure as president, Mutko decided to pay particular attention to the progress and direction of the Russian national football team, announcing that he was eager to hire a foreign coach for the team. In April 2006 he signed Guus Hiddink as manager of the Russian national team. In the same year Mutko was elected member of the Technical and Development Committee of FIFA. He was president of the RFS until 2009.

In March 2007 the Russian Football Premier League signed a deal with cable TV channel NTV-Plus for the rights to televise live matches from the Russian Premier League.  A public outcry resulted as many football fans were concerned over paying to watch domestic league games. As a result the contact was amended, ensuring that Russian Premier League matches would be shown on terrestrial television.

In September 2007 Mutko was appointed a member of the presidential committees on the development of physical culture and sport and on the preparation and direction of the XXII Winter Olympic Games and XI Winter Paralympics in Sochi in 2014.

When a new Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation was founded under Vladimir Putin on May 12, 2008, Mutko was named head. In the same month, he left the Federation Council.

In 2010, following Russia's poor performance at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Mutko along with his counterpart Leonid Tyagachev then-head of the Russian Olympic Committee faced strong criticism. Allegations of corruption, poor training infrastructure and apathy were cited as reasons for Russia's worst performance in the post-Soviet era. While the controversy cost Tyagachev his job, Mutko remains minister. In June 2010 The Moscow Times published details of a report into financial mismanagement and corruption at the Vancouver games, implicating Mutko personally in extravagant hotel bills.

Related links:

Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy Web site

Related Russia Profile articles:

Looking Ahead to Sochi (03/02/2010, Roland Oliphant)

Digging the Gold (07/29/2008, Anthony Johnston)

A Long Road to Glory (05/27/2008, Vladimir Frolov)