October 19, 2016 - 8:05 AM
MOSCOW - Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who has come under scrutiny in Russia's doping scandal, has been promoted to a deputy prime minister.
State news agency Tass says President Vladimir Putin approved a proposal by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to appoint Mutko to a deputy premiership in charge of sport, tourism and youth policies.
The promotion comes despite Mutko having been personally accused by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren of ordering the coverup of a failed drug test by a foreign soccer player.
Mutko was also denied accreditation to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August by the IOC after being named in the McLaren report.
Mutko's anti-doping adviser, Nataliya Zhelanova, and one of his deputies at the sports ministry, Yuri Nagornykh, have been suspended ever since McLaren accused them of helping to orchestrate coverups of hundreds of drug tests.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016