LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Russia’s sports minister stepped aside Tuesday from leading the world governing body for university sports in order to comply with punishments imposed in the fallout from a state-backed doping program.
The International University Sports Federation (FISU) said Oleg Matytsin will not resume duties as its president until Dec. 17, 2022. His term in office expires the next year.
Last Dec. 17, the Court of Arbitration for Sport imposed a two-year ban on Russia’s team name, flag and identity from the Olympics and world championships.
A range of sanctions for tampering with data and samples from a Moscow testing laboratory while it was under state control included banning government officials from sitting on the boards of signatories to the World Anti-Doping Code.
Matytsin was appointed sports minister in January 2020, one month after the World Anti-Doping Agency proposed a four-year ban. The Russian anti-doping agency did not accept the punishments, sending the case to CAS.
The CAS verdict also forced Russian state lawmaker Vladislav Tretiak to resign from the ruling committee of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
FISU said its first vice president, Leonz Eder, will take over presidential duties until Matytsin can formally return.
FISU oversees Summer and Winter Games every two years for university students. Matytsin is set to return for the 2023 editions in January in Lake Placid, United States, and August in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
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