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 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. 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Cheap Devils Jerseys China .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons.Gerwyn Price and Benito van de Pas claimed their second Players Championship titles of the season with wins in Coventry over the weekend. Price came into the weekend having won the last Players event in Barnsley and he added a second consecutive title when claiming the honours and the £10,000 top prize at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday.With the worlds top four players absent following Thursdays Betway Premier League Play-Offs and ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters - it was former rugby player Price who set the standard averaging over 108 in the final against Jamie Caven who made a welcome return to form. Price beat Terry Temple, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Mervyn King and Cristo Reyes to book a place in the quarter-finals and his last eight encounter with ninth seed Mensur Suljovic was to prove his toughest test of the day.The 31-year-old came through 6-5 against the Austrian before beating Ronnie Baxter in the semi-final to set up a meeting with Caven who beat Paul Milford, Simon Stevenson, Matthew Dennant, Scott Dale, Andy Jenkins and third seed Dave Chisnall on route.Price proved too strong in the final winning 6-1 with his 108 average too much for Caven, who averaged 101. Benito van de Pas claimed Sundays honours in Coventry Sundays event and top prize was claimed by Dutchman Van de Pas who was also a winner in Barnsley earlier this year when he beat Michael van Gerwen in the final.ddddddddddddThe 23-year-old whitewashed Joe Cullen 6-0 in the final to claim the first prize having seen off Christian Kist, Andy Boulton, World Youth Championship runner-up Nathan Aspinall and Jason Wilson to back the last eight.Van de Pas then eased past Justin Pipe 6-3 to set up a semi-final meeting with Darren Webster who he saw off 6-1.Cullens run to the final was impressive beating Simon Preston, Andy Hamilton, Antonio Alcinas, Andrew Gilding before the notable scalps of Dave Chisnall in the quarter-final and Steve Beaton in the last four.However, the youngster will have to be content with the £6,000 runners-up prize and a second ProTour final after running into an inspired Van de Pas in the final. 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