Playing the system: Pro-war politician Mikhail Degtyarev slips free of sanctions and is leading Russia’s bid to rejoin international sports
In February 2025, shortly before the IOC elected new president Kirsty Coventry, Degtyarev commented:
“Regional Olympic councils are no longer members of the ROC. The number of ROC members has been reduced by 89. This is legal language. There are now no formal reasons for any kind of ban. The issues cited by the IOC Executive Board have been resolved — and we’ve informed the IOC of that.”
In essence, the new ROC charter now includes only national-level sports federations. Regional committees, which had previously overseen sports development within their territories, are no longer mentioned.
The new IOC president was elected on March 20, and the transition period continues until June 20, during which current president Thomas Bach remains in office. Roughly two months after the ROC’s charter changes were submitted, Bach said he had no updates on Russia’s status and that Russia must simply follow the rules.
The IOC did not respond to The Insider’s request for comment regarding the ROC’s current status or its engagement with Degtyarev.
Seizing the bookmakers' cash
At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Sport is taking control of a critical financial pillar of Russia’s athletics industry: bookmakers and betting agencies. These companies are now among the largest private advertisers in Russian sports (second only to government-owned giants like Gazprom and Russian Railways), but more importantly, they are a key source of targeted allocations.
Since 2017, Russian law has required betting companies to dedicate a share of their revenue towards the development of sports, distributing funds to athletics federations proportionally based on betting volume per sport. Under Degtyarev, this system is being expanded and redirected.
Originally, the share was set to reach 2% by 2030, with a target of 1.7% between 2025-2027. However, in August 2023, amid rising budget pressures, the threshold was immediately raised to 2%. Shortly after Degtyarev took office, he proposed raising the share further — to 2.25% in 2026, and then to 2.5% in 2028.
The amounts are substantial: in 2024, bookmakers contributed a total of 35.3 billion rubles, an 85.3% increase over 2023.
Degtyarev's ministry will now control the bulk of those funds. A Russian Sports Fund is being created under the Ministry of Sport on Putin’s initiative. It will manage betting-derived revenues from international sporting events (which account for roughly 85% of bets), and distribute them through a grant-based application system, with decisions made by a supervisory board.
This effectively puts tens of billions of rubles under the ministry’s discretion, replacing the former model in which each federation received funding strictly proportional to the volume of bets placed on their sphere of competition. The Sports Fund bill has already passed its first reading in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament.
The president’s footsoldier
Mikhail Degtyarev became Minister of Sport in mid-May 2024, transitioning from his role as governor of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia’s Far East. Before him, the ministry was headed by Oleg Matytsin (2020-2024), who had previously overseen student sports.
A source close to the Ministry of Sport told The Insider that Degtyarev initially reacted coolly to the job offer and informally inquired as to whether he could decline the appointment and remain in Khabarovsk. But upon learning that the decision had been made at the highest level of the Kremlin, he refrained from making any serious attempt to resist the promotion.
Degtyarev indirectly confirmed his readiness to serve in any role within the current power structure during his first major informal interview, responding to a question about his initial reluctance to take the post by claiming:
“I welcomed the offer with enthusiasm — like a footsoldier of the president — with readiness and gratitude. Wherever and whenever I’m sent, I will go. Civil service isn’t much different from the military. And yes, it’s true I hadn’t planned to leave Khabarovsk. I was building a roadmap until 2031 — two full terms as governor.”
Though closely associated with the nationalist authoritarian Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) for much of his political career, Degtyarev actually started out in Putin’s United Russia. At 18, he led the Samara branch of the pro-Kremlin youth movement “Walking Together,” joining Russia's ruling party two years later. He has now spent 20 years in the LDPR, having switched his allegiance in 2005 because of his admiration for Vladimir Zhirinovsky, whose “work ethic, love for people, and belief in youth” seem to have impressed him deeply.
Degtyarev ran twice as an LDPR candidate for the post of Moscow mayor, but Zhirinovsky was reportedly dissatisfied with the way his young protégé ran the campaigns. Degtyarev earned just 2.86% of the vote in 2013 (5th place out of 6) and 6.72% in 2018 (4th out of 5).
The candidate described the campaigns as a training exercise:
“It was training — even up against Alexei Navalny [who won 27.24% in 2013]. We torpedoed each other. It was unforgettable! What a character! Not much of a debater, though. We barely have any career politicians in this country. I think that’s the tragedy of our time. I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m building a career in politics.”
One incident that has followed Degtyarev for the past decade first surfaced during the 2013 campaign — a now-infamous photo of the young candidate in a sauna with Zhirinovsky.