The international federation of football associations (FIFA) is investigating every member of the 23-man Russian squad that took part in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil for doping, the Mail on Sunday reports. Five of the 23 players are members of the Russian team competing at the 2017 Confederations Cup.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko is President of the Russian Football Union and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Mutko was Minster for Sport during the period of systemic doping outlined by the two Independent Commission (IC) Reports and two Independent Person (IP) Reports commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and was directly implicated as covering up the positive test of a top Russian footballer. He has also been appointed to Chair the organising committee for MINEPS VI, a UNESCO-sanctioned conference discussing the integrity of sport.