Russian Olympic chief ends confusion with official resignation

RUSSIAN Olympic Committee chief Leonid Tyagachev has officially announced his resignation after days of confusion surrounding his position.

POOR PERFORMANCE: Russian fans could only celebrate three gold medals in Vancouver after coming home with eight from Turin 2006 (Getty Images)

A series of contradictory statements from his spokespeople were finally cleared up today with a statement on the Committee's website outlining his decision to resign following Russia's poor performance at the Winter Olympics.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had called on ‘fat cat' sports bureaucrats to quit or be forced out after Russia could only manage three gold medals in Vancouver and finished a disappointing 11th in the medals table.

And although the Olympic Committee is a public organisation and does not come directly under the Government's remit, Tyagachev believes someone needed to take responsibility ahead of the next Games to be held in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2014.

"The responsible person must take a decision and write a statement to that effect," he told the website.

"I have worked for a long time in sport and have always had a responsible attitude to my tasks.

"At the Olympics in Vancouver we did not display the results that our fans expected of us.

"As a patriot of our country I have resigned from my post as president of the Olympic Committee of Russia and a replacement will be announced in the near future."

Tyagachyev, who is a friend and skiing companion of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was seen as the driving force behind Russia's preparations for the 2014 Games.

Russian media are speculating that his long standing rival Vyacheslav Fetisov, the former NHL hockey player, will be Tyagachyev's replacement.

Meanwhile, Sports minister Vitaly Mutkov has stated that he is ready to step down if instructed but retains his position for the time being.