Russian Olympic Committee chief Leonid Tyagachyov confirmed on Thursday that he was resigning and urged Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Minister Vitaly Mutko to implement reforms after the country's dismal showing at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
"I have given notice about my decision to resign and am calling for an executive committee meeting," Tyagachyov told Interfax.
He said a successor would be elected at a special plenary session March 10.
Tyagachyov had been the subject of much confusion Wednesday after his own spokespeople contradicted each other on whether he had resigned and his aides said he had fallen ill with pneumonia.
President Dmitry Medvedev called for the country's “fat cat” sports officials to resign Monday after Russia’s athletes failed to live up to the team’s previous Olympic glory, winning just three gold medals and coming in at 11th place overall.
But sports bureaucrats reacted hesitantly. Mutko said Tuesday that he would make a decision only after talks with Russia’s leadership, and Tyagachyov has pointed out that he is not subordinate to the Kremlin because the Olympic Committee is a public organization.
Tyagachyov explained Thursday that while his committee was not to blame for the poor results, he was taking responsibility for the country's athletes.
"I feel personal responsibility for each of our athletes; therefore, I decided to take the blame myself, so that our associates under sports minister Vitaly Mutko can complete the reform of our national sports and lead the Russian team to victory at the Sochi Olympics in 2014," he said in an interview with All Sports news service.
Tyagachyov refused to say who his successor would be, but media reports have pointed to his long-standing rival Vyacheslav Fetisov, the former NHL hockey player who heads the Federation Council's Sports Committee.
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