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MOSCOW -- Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who has come under scrutiny in Russias doping scandal and was banned from attending the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, was promoted to a deputy prime minister on Wednesday.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, in a decision shown by state TV.Mutkos longtime deputy minister, Pavel Kolobkov, a former gold medal-winning Olympic fencer who has represented Russia at the World Anti-Doping Agency, moves up to become the new sports minister.Mutkos elevation comes despite him having been personally accused by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren of ordering the cover-up of a failed drug test by a foreign soccer player.Mutko was also denied accreditation to the Rio Olympics in August by the IOC after being named in the McLaren report. He has denied wrongdoing and suggested the report was biased against Russia.Mutkos anti-doping adviser, Nataliya Zhelanova, and one of his deputies at the sports ministry, Yuri Nagornykh, have been suspended on Putins orders since July, when McLaren accused them of helping to orchestrate cover-ups of hundreds of drug tests.Mutko becomes one of nine deputy prime ministers in Russia, a title which adds to the wide array of other posts he holds. In addition to his governmental duties, Mutko is a member of the ruling council of world soccer body FIFA, chairman of the organizing committee for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and president of the Russian soccer federation.As well as the increase in rank, Mutkos new role reportedly gives him back powers over youth affairs and tourism, which were previously under his control when they were separated from the sports ministry by Putin in a government shake-up in 2012.There have been sporadic signs of discontent among some Russian sports figures over Mutkos leadership. Last month, he survived a leadership challenge as head of the soccer federation, a non-governmental organization. Mutkos main rival accused him of using the sports ministrys authority to coerce voters at the federations conference and suggested some had been threatened with losing their jobs for failing to back Mutko.Mutko personally intervened to cover up a doping case of at least one foreign (soccer player) in the Russian League, according to email evidence obtained by the WADA inquiry led by McLaren.The report alleged an additional 11 positive tests of Russian soccer players were made to disappear in a state-sponsored doping program from late 2011 to 2015.WADAs executive board called on FIFAs independent ethics court to act against Mutko, who has been a member of the scandal-scarred soccer bodys ruling panel since 2009.Among seven key demands, WADA leaders urged FIFA leaders to look into allegations concerning football (soccer) and the role played by a member of its executive committee, Minister Vitaly Mutko. Robby Anderson Womens Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Custom New York Jets Jerseys . 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LeVeon Bell Womens Jersey . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- NASCARs final four, er, sorry, Championship 4, have been jetted from city to city, talk show to talk show and media conference to media conference. Now, finally, it is time for Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano to get on with the business of one of those four actually winning that championship.Exactly what that title will mean depends on which one of the four Cup hopefuls youre speaking of -- a spectrum of outcomes that ranges from redemption to validation to history, both the rewriting of the record book and the next step toward possibly rewriting it again years down the road.Weve all known each other for a long time now, Carl Edwards explained Thursday during the foursomes final formal media obligation before getting to Homestead-Miami Speedway for Sundays 400-mile season finale. Our stories are similar because were all racers, but really they are completely different. Were from different places. Weve had really different NASCAR careers. So, we all want to win the championship, but for each of us it might mean something a little different.For Edwards, its the redemption. In 2011 at this track in this event, he missed out on a Sprint Cup title in a manner befitting the victim of a Hitchcock film. He finished a nine-month season by leading the most laps and finishing second in a race twisted by rain, tying Tony Stewart in the point standings but losing the title via a tiebreaker of wins. The onetime wunderkind, now 37, is arguably the best current driver not to win a championship, with 28 Cup wins and a pair of runner-up championship finishes.But, if NASCAR brass is being honest, an Edwards title, while surely overwhelmingly well-received in the garage, wont provide the kind electricity the sanctioning body seeks heading into a crucial offseason.Sorry, Cuz, but thats the truth.If Edwards was once viewed as a wunderkind, then Loganos earmarking was more along the lines of savior. The Sliced Bread title bolted to him as a preteen short tracker served its purpose of providing the spotlight that moved him up the racing ladder in a hurry. He was in a Cup ride at 18 -- the first driver born in the 1990s to hold a steering wheel in NASCARs top division. But when the wins didnt come quickly enough, that spotlight turned into a heat lamp and he nearly withered. At 22, he was labeled by many as washed up.A Cup title would finally fulfill the Sliced Bread promise, the at-long-last christening of the now 26-year-old king of the suddenly large Cup contingent of 20-somethings. And though he politely deflects talk of validation bordering on revenge, the mention of it does spark a smile.I dont really think about that, he said. But I do know who has stuck with me through thick or thin and I know they will be sticking with me Sunday night whether we win the championship or not.NASCAR no doubt will stick by Logano, too. But again, apologies to the kid, because he isnt the driver the suits are likely rooting for.No, to generate headlinnes here in the depths of the football season, the fine folks in Daytona and Charlotte no doubt have their eyes on the No.dddddddddddd 48 Chevrolet. Thats the ride of Jimmie Johnson, the only member of the Championship 4 racing for immortality. A Cup would be his seventh, equaling one of NASCARs two most coveted career records. The only other racers with that many titles are the two greatest in the history of the sport, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.Yes, there are those who still try to discount Johnsons championship success to a Chase postseason format that The King and The Intimidator never used. Yes, there are those who continue to paint Johnson as vanilla, a starched-shirt corporate clone.Those people are wrong.They are being handed a chance to see motorsports history achieved by one of the greatest racers ever born. But even if they dont appreciate it now, one day they will. Sometimes thats how history works.I think when he won five [Cups] in a row, he was winning a lot of races and a lot of championships and maybe people got tired of it, his boss, team owner Rick Hendrick, said Friday. I still say that Jimmie is going to get more credit when hes done than hell get when hes driving.That brings us to Kyle Busch. He is a former teammate to Johnson and Logano and a current teammate to Edwards. Like Logano, he was perhaps thrown into a Cup car too soon and, though more successful quicker than his friends, Busch also struggled with the spotlight. Like Edwards, the story of Buschs career was written with lots of individual race wins (38) but dogged by the inability to win a Sprint Cup championship.That changed one year ago. In the four-man, run-for-your-life, beat-the-other-three, win-and-in Chase finale format, he did all of the above. It was a night that included redemption, validation and history. If he does the same on Sunday night, it will further amplify what he did one year ago.A second Cup for Busch, still only 31 years old, would also perhaps signify the start of something much larger. It might very well be the first step toward one day, years from now, running alongside Johnson, Petty and Earnhardt, perhaps even passing them. And thats why, though we -- and NASCAR -- might not realize it now, a Kyle Busch championship might be the most intriguing Sunday night outcome of them all.I think about last year at Homestead racing Jeff Gordon for the championship and all the history that came with his retirement and then Jimmie this year going for seven, Busch said Thursday. Our goal when we all started as racers wasnt to make history. But if youre fortunate enough to have a chance, or even have a chance to see it, thats pretty cool.Well all have that chance Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Now we just have to wait and see whos going to write it. And what it ultimately means as the sport rolls over the horizon ahead. ' ' '