Bid Committee

The Minister of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation, Vitaly Mutko is the energetic leader of Russia’s bid to welcome the world’s top sports event in Russia.

He has extensive experience in sports and football in particular as President of FC Zenit of Saint Petersburg (1997-2003), President of the Premier League (2001-2003), and later as the FUR President (2005-2009) and FIFA Executive Committee member (2009).

He has broad government experience as a Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg (1992-1996), Senator of the Federation Council representing St. Petersburg (2003-2008), and presently as Federal Minister responsible for sports (2008).

During his tenure as FUR President, Vitaly Mutko received international acclaim for his contribution to the success of the UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow in 2008, rated by UEFA as one of the best in the history of the tournament. It was through his relentless efforts that key success elements of the Final, like Champions Festival at iconic Red Square and unprecedented visa-free entry to Russia for supporters, were secured.

He also is a key promoter of the development of football in Russia. Through his efforts a dedicated state program to develop football in the years 2008-2015 was adopted by the government of the Russian Federation. This program has a budget of US$340 million, targets youth as its key constituency and envisages inauguration of more than 600 football pitches and training centers through Russia.

For his public service Vitaly Mutko was decorated with government awards including Order of Merit and Order of Friendship.

Born in 1958, Vitaly Mutko is married to wife Tatiana and has two children.

Born in 1972 Alexey Sorokin represents a new generation of sports leaders in Russia. A graduate of the Moscow State Linguistic University and Diplomatic Academy, a former diplomat for Russia, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Sports Committee and the current General Secretary/CEO of The Football Union of Russia, Alexey Sorokin has had a wide array of experiences and responsibilities to prepare him for this bid. He most recently led a number of key sports projects in Russia including the Moscow 2012 Summer Olympics Bid, Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Bid, IAAF-2013, Youth Olympic Games-2010 Bid, and UEFA Champions League Final of 2008.

The ultimate success of the Moscow Final, where he served as a Project Leader, made Alexey Sorokin a well recognized figure in the international football family and brought him to the helm of The Football Union of Russia as its CEO in 2008.

He is fluent in English and French. He is married to wife Irina and has one daughter.

Formerly of the Russian diplomatic corps, Alexander Djordjadze has substantial experience in international sports affairs. In recent years he played a role in a number of Russia’s major sports bids including IAAF-2013, IRB Sevens-2009, WTTC-2010, Youth Olympic Games-2010, and FINA-2013. At the UEFA 2008 Champions League Final he served as a Deputy Project Leader.

He holds Ph.D. in history from the Moscow State University and is fluent in English. He is married to wife Elizaveta and has two children.

Ekaterina Fedyshina has been working for The Football Union of Russia since 2002. Since 2004 she has been the Director for International Relations at the FUR. Besides the knowledge of five European languages she possesses a vast experience in international football relations and is well known in the international football family especially at FIFA and UEFA. She was Project Coordinator for UEFA Champions League Final 2008 in Moscow.

Ekaterina holds diploma for foreign languages from Moscow State Linguistic University as well as diploma of simultaneous interpreter from Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany). She has one daughter.

Julia has diverse and extensive experience in sports bidding business. As a specialist in communications, she was a part of the team that secured such world competitions for the city of Moscow as 2008 UEFA Champions League Final and 2013 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. In 2007 she joined Helios Partners, an international sports marketing consultancy based in Atlanta, GA, USA. She brought her knowledge of Russian culture and sport and worked as a liaison with such clients as Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games, International Golf Federation, Lenovo, and Volkswagen.

Julia holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia). She is also certified in sports project management by the Academy of National Economy (Moscow, Russia).

The versatile Alexey Gennadyevich Smertin can look back on a distinguished career as defender and midfield player with a number of clubs in Russia and abroad.

The famous former Russian football player, an elite international athlete and ex-captain of the Russian national team, can boast a number of titles such as the Russian Cup in 2000 with Locomotiv Moscow, the French League Cup in 2002 with Girondins de Bordeaux as well as the Premier League and the League Cup in England in 2005 playing for Chelsea. He was named player of the year in Russia in 1999.

During his career he played for clubs Dinamo Barnaul, Zaria Leninsk-Kuznetsk, Uralan Elista, Locomotiv Moscow, Girondins de Bordeaux in France and English clubs Chelsea and Fulham.

During his time with the Russian national team, Smertin played over 55 matches and participated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ in Korea/Japan as well as at the 2004 EURO in Portugal.

Alexey Smertin is currently the deputy of the Altay region Legislative Assembly in Russia and is actively engaged in the development of children’s sports in both the Altay region and Barnaul, his native city. He has founded a football sports school for children and is also the founder of the «Young talents» foundation.

Alexey is fluent in English and French, he is married (wife Larissa) and has a son.

Alexey has a personal website: smertin.ru