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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. Anthony Simmons .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 governing body FIFA, chairman of the local 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.---AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth in Minsk, Belarus, contributed to this report. Sonny Collins . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Gary Roberts . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. https://www.cheapnfljerseyschina.co/frank-oliver-jersey-for-sale/ . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- When their team scores a goal at home, Calgary Flames fans are used to fire shooting from strategic points in their buildings ceiling, not from the home teams bench.Still, Flames first-year coach Glen Gulutzan is finding himself on an increasingly hot seat with less than 20 percent of the seasons games played as Calgary sinks further and further back in the Western Conference standings.The Flames come to Minnesota on Tuesday having lost four in a row, and owning a 5-10-1 mark, which is second-worst in the league (ahead of only the Arizona Coyotes).All of that recent losing had Gulutzan juggling his lines on Monday at practice be