Russia's Putin sacks official over Olympic delays

President Vladimir Putin dismissed a senior Russian Olympic Committee official on Thursday because of delays in construction work for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Putin had criticised Akhmed Bilalov, the vice president of Russia's Olympic Committee, after he was told of the delays at the ski jumping venue and that costs had risen.

"People who do not fulfil their obligations on such a scale cannot lead the Olympic movement in our country," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters in Sochi.