NYON: Russia is set to reclaim the spot on the FIFA Council stripped from the country’s deputy prime minister.

UEFA said on Wednesday that 2018 World Cup organising committee CEO Alexei Sorokin is the only applicant to fill a seat left vacant by Vitaly Mutko.

Sorokin must pass an eligibility test by a FIFA review panel to be accepted as a candidate and have a clear run at the Sept. 20 election. UEFA member federations will vote at a meeting in Geneva.

Mutko, who is also the chairman of the World Cup organising committee, was blocked by the FIFA panel in March because of a conflict with his government duties.

However, a seat on the 37-member FIFA Council stayed vacant at UEFA’s election meeting in April after a candidate from Iceland withdrew during the campaign.

“It will be a real appreciation of the role of Russia in world football,” Mutko said of regaining the position in comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass.

The FIFA-appointed independent official who denied Mutko’s candidacy, Portuguese lawyer Miguel Maduro, was removed this month as chairman of the football body’s governance committee after less than a year in the role.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2017