Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko is set to intervene in the crisis surrounding the performances of Russian biathletes at the recent World Championships ©Getty Images

Vitaly Mutko is set to intervene in the crisis surrounding the performances of Russian biathletes at the World Championships last month by overseeing the appointment of coaching staff within the country’s National Federation himself, the Sports Minister has claimed.

Russia endured their worst-ever outing at the event in Holmenkollen in Oslo as they failed to clinch a medal of any colour in the 11 competitions on the programme.

Their previous worst performance had come at the 2012 competition in Ruhpolding, where they won two bronze medals.

They also under-performed at the 2013 edition of the event as they secured one silver and one bronze medal in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic.

The disappointing displays from Russian biathletes have led to fierce criticism of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU), particularly from Mutko, who blasted the coaches as “absolutely hopeless” last month and claimed they lacked “sufficient qualifications”.

Their dire results at the 2016 World Championships, where France topped the standings thanks largely to Martin Fourcade, winner of four gold medals and a silver, have forced Mutko to step in.

Mutko, who leads the Russian Football Union and is a member of FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee, warned he will “not allow the RBU to make general statements” and stressed the need for the body to improve if they are to return to past glories in the sport.

Russia's men's relay team won an Olympic gold medal on home snow at Sochi 2014 but the country failed to win a medal of any kind at the recent World Championships ©Getty Images
Russia's men's relay team won an Olympic gold medal on home snow at Sochi 2014 but the country failed to win a medal of any kind at the recent World Championships ©Getty Images

“I personally ponder gathering representatives of all [Russian] regions, where biathlon is developing and talk to them,” Mutko told Russia's official news agency TASS. 

“I will not allow the RBF making general statements anymore.

"I will talk to each representative in person before making new appointments in the coaching staff of the Russian national biathlon team.

“There must be no more unspecific talks.”

It comes after Mutko had also accused the RBU of giving false promises in a scathing attack on the body in March.

“We were assured that the World Championship was the main event where the national team would demonstrate its best,” he said.

“However, this has not happened.”

Russia currently sit fifth in the overall World Championships medal table with a haul of 90 medals, including 26 gold, and returned from their home Winter Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 with four medals.

This included gold for the relay quartet of Alexey Volkov, Evgeny Ustyugov, Dmitry Malyshko and Anton Shipulin.