Guus Hiddink will meet with the new president...
Slovenia when a lackluster and tired Russia crashed out after a 2-1 win at home was cancelled out by a 1-0 defeat in Maribor, much to the dismay of the watching Russian political and business elite.Fursenko"s links with Gazprom mean the energy giant is likely to take over from billionaire Roman Abramovich as the main source of funding for Russia"s top football body. Abramovich"s National Football Academy stopped paying Hiddink"s wages at the beginning of this year and his candidate for RFU president, Sergei Kapkov, unexpectedly withdrew from the race, saying he had been told to do so by "respected people." Fursenko was widely believed to have the backing of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minster Vladimir Putin, both fellow St. Petersburg natives.
Aside from Hiddink, Fursenko will have a host of other pressing issues to deal with. The Russian game has been tarnished by allegations of match-fixing in recent years, with a number of players and coaches
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