Alexey Sorokin's chances of securing the last available UEFA seat on FIFA's ruling Council have been given a boost ©Getty Images

Alexey Sorokin's chances of securing the last available UEFA seat on FIFA's ruling Council have been given a boost after he was elected to the Board of the Russian Football Union.

Sorokin, the chief executive of the Organising Committee for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, had revealed his hope that he would be able to stand for a position on the Council earlier this year.

Russia does not currently have a FIFA Council candidate after Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko was barred from standing for re-election in March due to his role within the country's Government.

Sorokin has previously claimed it is important for the nation to have a member of the Council.

His election onto the RFU Board is likely to strengthen his case as the governing body, which is headed up by former Sports Minister Mutko, are tasked with nominating officials for seats on the FIFA Council to UEFA.

Alexey Sorokin is hoping to replace Vitaly Mutko, left as Russia's FIFA Council member ©Getty Images
Alexey Sorokin is hoping to replace Vitaly Mutko, left as Russia's FIFA Council member ©Getty Images

"In September we have a chance to return to our seat in the FIFA Council," Russian politician Igor Lebedev, who has previously sparked controversy by suggesting hooliganism should be legalised and turned into a professional sport, said earlier this year.

"Sorokin is being invited to be pushed to UEFA.

"So we will not lose our representative."

European football's governing body are due to hold an Extraordinary Congress in September to elect their last FIFA Council member after Iceland's Geir Thorsteinsson pulled out of the running prior to April's Congress in Helsinki.

The decision from Thorsteinsson left UEFA with just three candidates for four positions on the body.

Hungary's Sandor Csyani, Cyprus' Costakis Koutsokoumnis and Montenegro's Dejan Savicevic were all elected unopposed in the Finnish capital.

Each will serve four-year terms, with Germany’s Reinhard Grindel, the replacement for banned predecessor Wolfgang Niersbach, set to serve for two years.

The person who is elected at the Extraordinary Congress - the date and location of which has not yet been announced - will complete UEFA's eight-strong contingent on the 37-member FIFA Council.

UEFA do have the power to allow its Executive Committee to organise a ballot for such an election but FIFA's statutes require a four-month campaign that allows time to conduct eligibility checks on potential candidates.