The Russian Premier League is set to restart on June 21, the country’s football association announced on Friday. The Russian Premier League, like every other major European league, was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which has disrupted the entire sporting calendar.

"The Russian Premier League season will resume on June 21," a statement said following a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Russian football association.

The final eight games of the remainder of the season will be played between June 21 to July 22 with four of the scheduled round of matches taking place in the midweek.&nbsp;

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Matches will be played behind closed doors without spectators with the new rules of five substitutions coming into play in every match.&nbsp;

Along with Russian Premier League, the Olympic Russian Cup is also set for a restart with the final scheduled to take place on July 25.

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As things stand, Russia are atop the league standings with 50 points off 22 matches whereas Lokomotiv Moscow are second with 41 points to their name. Krasnodar are sitting third with 41 points with FK Rostov and CSKA Moscow sitting fifth and sixth respectively. Orenburg, Rubin Kazan, FK Krylya Sovetov Samara and Akhmat Grozny are involved in a tight relegation battle, and it would be interesting to see how things pan out once the league is brought back to life again.

<h2>The preliminary fixture schedule</h2>

23rd round: 21 June

Cup QF: 24 June

24th round: 28 June

25th round: 1 July

26th round: 5 July

27th round: 8 July

28th round: 12 July

29th round: 15 July

Cup SF: 18-19 July

30th round: 22 July

Cup Final: 25 July 25

The Russian Premier League is set to restart on June 21, the country’s football association announced on Friday. The Russian Premier League, like every other major European league, was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which has disrupted the entire sporting calendar.

The Russian Premier League is set to restart on June 21, the country’s football association announced on Friday. The Russian Premier League, like every other major European league, was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which has disrupted the entire sporting calendar. "The Russian Premier League season will resume on June 21," a statement said following a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Russian football association. The final eight games of the remainder of the season will be played between June 21 to July 22 with four of the scheduled round of matches taking place in the midweek. ALSO READ: Lionel Messi accepts 'risk' of possible La Liga return Matches will be played behind closed doors without spectators with the new rules of five substitutions coming into play in every match. Along with Russian Premier League, the Olympic Russian Cup is also set for a restart with the final scheduled to take place on July 25. ALSO READ: US sport edges back from virus shutdown with golf, auto events As things stand, Russia are atop the league standings with 50 points off 22 matches whereas Lokomotiv Moscow are second with 41 points to their name. Krasnodar are sitting third with 41 points with FK Rostov and CSKA Moscow sitting fifth and sixth respectively. Orenburg, Rubin Kazan, FK Krylya Sovetov Samara and Akhmat Grozny are involved in a tight relegation battle, and it would be interesting to see how things pan out once the league is brought back to life again. The preliminary fixture schedule 23rd round: 21 June Cup QF: 24 June 24th round: 28 June 25th round: 1 July 26th round: 5 July 27th round: 8 July 28th round: 12 July 29th round: 15 July Cup SF: 18-19 July 30th round: 22 July Cup Final: 25 July 25

Russian Premier League set for June 21 restart

Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen pulled off a world-class save as his side held Russia to a 0-0 draw in their Nations League B, Group 2 clash in Kaliningrad on Thursday.

Both teams exited this year's World Cup at the quarter-final stage and Sweden once again showcased the defensive stability that has made them so hard to beat under coach Janne Andersson.

The hosts failed to convert their dominance of possession into shots on target until 10 minutes from fulltime, when Olsen had to make a superb, acrobatic save to keep out a fearsome effort from Daler Kuzyaev.

That was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock and the result leaves Russia top of the group on four points after two games.

Russia face second-placed Turkey, who are a point adrift, on Sunday, with the Swedes bottom on one point ahead of their friendly with Slovakia on Tuesday.

Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen pulled off a world-class save as his side held Russia to a 0-0 draw in their Nations League B, Group 2 clash in Kaliningrad on Thursday.

Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen pulled off a world-class save as his side held Russia to a 0-0 draw in their Nations League B, Group 2 clash in Kaliningrad on Thursday. Both teams exited this year's World Cup at the quarter-final stage and Sweden once again showcased the defensive stability that has made them so hard to beat under coach Janne Andersson. The hosts failed to convert their dominance of possession into shots on target until 10 minutes from fulltime, when Olsen had to make a superb, acrobatic save to keep out a fearsome effort from Daler Kuzyaev. That was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock and the result leaves Russia top of the group on four points after two games. Russia face second-placed Turkey, who are a point adrift, on Sunday, with the Swedes bottom on one point ahead of their friendly with Slovakia on Tuesday.

Olsen's super save helps Sweden hold Russia to 0-0 draw

Soccer&#39;s world ruling body FIFA has promised &quot;appropriate steps&quot; after a report on Monday said a dozen positive doping cases in Russian football were among hundreds covered up by Moscow. 
 
However, FIFA did not comment directly on allegations in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report that Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who sits on its supervisory FIFA Council, had ordered the cover-up in the cases of the footballers. 
 
The independent WADA report, which followed an investigation led by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, concentrated on allegations of systematic doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. 
 
It said that Moscow had concealed hundreds of positive doping cases from a variety of sports, including soccer, in the run-up to the games. 
 
&quot;FIFA will request from WADA all details concerning the individual cases of doping in Russian football that are referred in the McClaren report,&quot; FIFA said in a statement to Reuters. 
 
&quot;Once FIFA receives this information from WADA, it will take the appropriate next steps.&quot; 
 
The report said that Russian Deputy Sports Minister Yuri Nagornykh had decided which athletes would benefit from a cover-up, known as a SAVE order, although Mutko appeared to make the decision with regard to footballers. 
 
&quot;The (chief investigator) is aware of at least one foreign footballer playing in the Russian League who had that benefit of a SAVE order,&quot; it said. 
 
&quot;That SAVE decision was made by Minister Mutko and not Deputy Minister Nagornykh.&quot; 
 
Eleven Russian footballers also benefited from a cover-up after failing a doping test, the report said. 
 
&quot;Email evidence available... shows that the SAVE decision for the football players was the final decision of &#39;VL&#39;. VL is the first name and patronymic name initials of the Minister of Sport, Vitaly Leontiyevich Mutko.&quot; 
 
Mutko, president of the organising committee for the 2018 World Cup which will be hosted by Russia, has not commented since the release of the McLaren report. 
 
However, when the same allegations were made in June by German broadcaster ARD/WDR, he described them as &quot;silly&quot; and said that he and Russia were being smeared as payback for winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup. 
 
Asked bout Mutko&#39;s situation, FIFA said &quot;the Ethics Committee is an independent body of FIFA and only it can decide what actions to take in respect to this issue.&quot; 
 
The ethics committee could not immediately be reached for comment. 
 
(Reuters)

The report said a dozen doping cases in Russian football were among hundreds covered up by Moscow

Soccer's world ruling body FIFA has promised "appropriate steps" after a report on Monday said a dozen positive doping cases in Russian football were among hundreds covered up by Moscow. However, FIFA did not comment directly on allegations in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report that Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who sits on its supervisory FIFA Council, had ordered the cover-up in the cases of the footballers. The independent WADA report, which followed an investigation led by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, concentrated on allegations of systematic doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. It said that Moscow had concealed hundreds of positive doping cases from a variety of sports, including soccer, in the run-up to the games. "FIFA will request from WADA all details concerning the individual cases of doping in Russian football that are referred in the McClaren report," FIFA said in a statement to Reuters. "Once FIFA receives this information from WADA, it will take the appropriate next steps." The report said that Russian Deputy Sports Minister Yuri Nagornykh had decided which athletes would benefit from a cover-up, known as a SAVE order, although Mutko appeared to make the decision with regard to footballers. "The (chief investigator) is aware of at least one foreign footballer playing in the Russian League who had that benefit of a SAVE order," it said. "That SAVE decision was made by Minister Mutko and not Deputy Minister Nagornykh." Eleven Russian footballers also benefited from a cover-up after failing a doping test, the report said. "Email evidence available... shows that the SAVE decision for the football players was the final decision of 'VL'. VL is the first name and patronymic name initials of the Minister of Sport, Vitaly Leontiyevich Mutko." Mutko, president of the organising committee for the 2018 World Cup which will be hosted by Russia, has not commented since the release of the McLaren report. However, when the same allegations were made in June by German broadcaster ARD/WDR, he described them as "silly" and said that he and Russia were being smeared as payback for winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Asked bout Mutko's situation, FIFA said "the Ethics Committee is an independent body of FIFA and only it can decide what actions to take in respect to this issue." The ethics committee could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reuters)

FIFA promises 'appropriate steps' after WADA report on doping in Russia