Four countries asked to exclude Russia from the Biathlon World Cup
During a meeting of the International Biathlon Union or IBU leadership in Hochfilzen, Austria, the Biathlon Federations of the Czech Republic, Canada, the USA and Sweden started talks on the possible temporary suspension of the Russian biathlon team, stated Russian Channel Match TV commentator Dmitry Guberniev. The talks came after a case initiated by the Austrian police on violation of anti-doping rules.
However, the Executive Committee of IBU decided not to exclude Russian biathletes from the competition at the World Cup. "The Executive Committee believes that no actions are required now. The matter is partially related to the fact that Austrian authorities did not provide any additional information about the current investigation to the IBU in addition to what was already published,” the IBU stated.
Austrian police arrived at the Russian national team’s Hochfilzen residence before the start of the second round of the Biathlon World Cup. The coach, Alexander Kasperovich, doctors and massage therapists, and biathletes Evgeny Garanichev, Alexander Loginov, Anton Shipulin, Irina Starykh and Aleksei Volkov were accused of violating anti-doping rules at the World Cup in Hochfilzen in 2017.