Nikolai Tolstikh has voiced his support for the Italian coach, who is under contract until 2018, despite the country's first-round elimination in Brazil

The president of the Russian Football Union (RFU) has rubbished the suggestion that Fabio Capello should be fired because of the national team's disappointing World Cup campaign.

The Italian coach, who is under contract until 2018, has come in for some heavy criticism after the Russia bowed out at the group stage in Brazil, having been pipped to second place in Group H by Algeria.

Some members of the Russian parliament even called for Capello to be dismissed but Nikolai Tolstikh is standing by his man.

"In September our team will participate in qualification for the [2016] European Championship, without forgetting preparations for our home World Cup [in 2018]," the RFU president stated.

"The criticism and analysis is normal, but we need to focus on the improvement of the play of our team, so we need to be constructive.

"When we talk about the length of Capello’s contract, there are no termination clauses. Now we need to talk about something else."