MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. The International Biathlon Union (IBU), with its decision to suspend the investigation into 22 Russian athletes, made it clear that the data on which the independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) led by Richard McLaren based its accusations against Russia are untenable.
The IBU Executive Committee held an extraordinary meeting on Saturday evening in Anterselva, Italy, at which it heard a report from the organization’s working group that studied the data provided by the McLaren Commission. After the release on December 9 of the final version of the Canadian professor’s report, which contained a number of indictments against Russian sports, the IBU Executive Committee met for the second time to discuss the issue of biathletes’ involvement in anti-doping violations.
IBU is out of politics
The first meeting took place on December 22 in Munich; a month ago, it was decided to abandon the World Cup stage in Tyumen and the Junior World Championship in Ostrov (Pskov region), which were planned for February-March. In addition, 31 people came under suspicion Russian biathlon ist, two of whom are already retired Olympic medalists in Sochi, Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina. Their affairs are carried out through the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As for the remaining 29 athletes, almost all of them were acquitted on Saturday: the IBU will continue to investigate seven biathletes, the organization no longer has any reason to suspect 22 Russians.
“This is a balanced decision,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko commented on the results of the executive committee. “If you get away from politics and chatter, and are guided only by the rules of law, then everything will fall into place. Our athletes win with the help of their efforts and hard work.”
With its decision, the IBU actually called into question the results of the McLaren Commission investigation. After all, the conclusions made by the Canadian professor and his colleagues were based on data that ultimately ended up at the disposal of the IBU. The International Federation, in turn, considered them unconvincing, otherwise it would not have acquitted almost three quarters of the suspected athletes on Saturday.
In fact, the lawyer of Russian skiers Alexander Legkov and Evgeniy Belov, Christoph Wischemann, also spoke about the inconsistency of the data of the McLaren commission. Having conducted his own analysis of the data on the basis of which athletes were suspended from competition, he discovered a lot of inaccurate and contradictory information, which he reported to the International Federation skiing(FIS).
The FIS is yet to rule on the six suspensions Russian skiers, however, the precedent created by the IBU allows us to hope for a favorable outcome for the athletes.
However, the investigation into the Russian Biathlon Union and its athletes has not yet been completed. The next meeting on this topic will be held by the IBU Executive Committee on February 9 - the first day of the World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria. The names of the remaining seven athletes, according to the WADA code, are not disclosed, but it cannot be ruled out that among them there are those who are preparing to compete at the World Championships. For this reason, the IBU should put an end to this matter before the main start of the season.
The voice of biathletes is heard
One of the reasons for convening an emergency meeting could have been the reaction to McLaren’s report by the athletes themselves, who, on the initiative of the world biathlon leader, Frenchman Martin Fourcade, put forward a number of demands to the IBU. All of them were set out in a letter signed by about 170 athletes.
The IBU Executive Committee considered the athletes' request and took into account their opinions. "The proposals from the athletes' letter received on January 13 are appreciated and taken seriously. They will be sent to the legal committee for the preparation of proposals to the executive committee in order to make changes to the rules, which will be considered at the next congress," the organization said in a statement published after the end executive committee
The next congress, which is the IBU's highest governing body, could take place as early as this year. A similar proposal was also made on Saturday. It was initially assumed that the next congress would be held in the fall of 2017.
In addition, the IBU called on the IOC to recheck the doping tests of all active biathletes who competed at the 2014 Olympic Games.
Today in Munich will be held meeting of the executive committee of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) which is dedicated the problem of doping in Russian sports, the correspondent reports.
It is known that the independent commission World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) under the leadership of a well-known Richard McLaren transmitted information to the IBU about 31 biathletes from Russia who are suspected of violating anti-doping rules. Among them, both active athletes and those who have already completed their performances.
Group consisting of five experts will make a report to the IBU Executive Committee and propose disciplinary action in accordance with anti-doping rules.
The Executive Committee includes: IBU President Anders Besseberg from Norway, first vice president Victor Maigurov from Russia, vice presidents - Klaus Leistner from Austria, Max Cobb from the USA, Ivor Lehotan from Slovakia, Thomas Pfeller from Germany, Olle Dahlin from Sweden, head of medical department Nami Kim from South Korea, as well as general secretary Nicole Resch(no voting rights).
Anders Besseberg
The decision to temporarily suspend individual athletes or the entire team, if any, may come into force as of the following: fourth stage of the World Cup, which will take place in German Oberhof from 5 to 8 January. In addition, the IBU will consider the issue of holding World Junior Championships in Ostrov, which is scheduled for February, and World Cup stage in Tyumen, scheduled for March next year. Let us add that today there are three countries, Czech Republic, UK and Norway, announced that .
Let us recall that earlier in Russian Biathlon Union (RBR) issued an official statement commenting on information about 31 Russian biathletes suspected of using prohibited medical products.
"We do not know the names of the athletes on the list that the IBU will discuss on Thursday, December 22. However, we are ready to provide comprehensive information on any athlete who has ever participated in events under the auspices of the RBU. We assume that the majority of this list are people who have already been convicted of violating doping rules by the internal control of RUSADA and the SBR and are currently serving (or have already served) a disqualification or have completed their careers,” the message says.
“Resolutely fighting any attempts to use prohibited drugs, the SBR, at its own expense, conducted more than 10 seminars for athletes and coaches with the invitation of representatives of national and international anti-doping organizations. All persons who had ever come under suspicion were suspended from working with national teams in involvement in inappropriate experiments. During internal checks at national competitions. athletes who did not heed the strict requirements of the RBU were caught and severely punished", they added.
Let us add that the start of the meeting is scheduled for 15:00 Moscow time.
MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) did not enter into conflict with the part of the world sports community that became embittered after the release of the final version of Richard McLaren's report and voluntarily refused to hold two international competitions this season - the World Cup in Tyumen and the World Junior Championships in Ostrov Pskov region.
The decision was made at a meeting of the executive committee of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), which on Thursday heard the recommendations of a working group that studied data from an investigation by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) headed by McLaren into doping violations in Russian sports. The working group was created on December 15, after the international union received from WADA a list with the names of 31 Russian biathletes who are suspected of violating anti-doping rules.
The executive committee decided to launch an investigation into the activities of the SBR and 29 Russian biathletes, with whose doping tests, according to McLaren, fraud was carried out in the period from 2011 to 2015. The cases of two more athletes are being carried out through the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which indicates their performance at Winter Games 2014 in Sochi.
The main thing is that in the current situation, the IBU did not take the extreme measure of suspending the membership of the RBU, which would have meant the exclusion of Russian athletes from participating in international competitions. “Suspicion is not enough to impose sanctions, and we will continue to follow the path of professional proceedings, taking into account all opinions, and not acting only on the basis of suspicion,” explained the IBU’s position, Anders Besseberg, the organization’s president. “The rules should work in the interests of both the guilty and the innocent ".
Informed decision
Russian biathletes will continue to compete at tournaments under the auspices of the IBU, but in order to avoid further aggravation of the situation, the RBU voluntarily refused to hold two international competitions in the country. “Competitions should take place in a festive atmosphere, and not amid suspicions and rumors,” the organization said in a statement.
Recently, the biathlon federations of Norway, the Czech Republic and Great Britain have added fuel to the fire, hinting at their reluctance to go to compete in Russia amid such loud accusations from McLaren. The latter, on the eve of the executive committee, completely announced a boycott of the upcoming competitions.
“A balanced decision was made, which allows us to draw conclusions calmly, not on abstract statements and conclusions of one person,” commented the executive committee’s decisions Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation on issues of sports, tourism and youth policy Vitaly Mutko. - I am sure that our federation will show that the majority of athletes have already been punished, and the majority are innocent. I don't see any problems in this case. I hope the entire sports world will do the same."
There is currently a break in the biathlon calendar. Three stages of the World Cup are behind us, which will resume on January 5 in Oberhof, Germany. On February 11, the World Championship starts, which will be hosted by the Austrian city of Hochfilzen. The best Russian biathlete today is Anton Shipulin, who takes second place in the overall World Cup standings after the Frenchman Martin Fourcade.
Russian biathlon team in in full force may today be removed from starts at the World Cup stages. Today in Munich, following a meeting of the executive committee of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), dedicated to the problem of doping, a decision will be made.
In 2011–2015, 31 shooting skiers from Russia were suspected of using prohibited substances. The list, based on the report, was handed over on December 15 by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) led by Richard McLaren.
The agency does not officially publish the names of Russian athletes who were caught violating anti-doping rules. “The names of the athletes in the 31 folders of documents will remain confidential until final decisions are made on each individual case,” Sport Express quotes an IBU press release.
However, information about biathletes “caught” for doping was leaked onto the Internet, including Ekaterinburg resident Anton Shipulin. The portal site cannot judge the authenticity of the file, but this option is being discussed on social networks. By the way, it contains exactly 31 points.
Note that on December 11, journalists found out that WADA suspects four Russian biathletes of using the so-called “Rodchenkov cocktail” - a mixture of alcohol and anabolic steroids. The personal data of the athletes was converted into a digital code, but a simple logical calculation managed to find out three names: Olga Zaitseva, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova. Until today, the name Shipulin has never been mentioned in this context.
It is reported that some biathletes on the list have already been disqualified, some have completed their careers.
Anders Besseberg, IBU President:
We have enough evidence of violations of anti-doping rules by Russians. We got additional information, which is not in the McLaren report.
Match TV commentator Dmitry Guberniev, who knows biathlon probably better than anyone in the country, also warns about serious sanctions.
Dmitry Guberniev, commentator:
There is a high probability of Russia's complete removal. IBU President Besseberg's tone has changed over the past few days. Now we need to cooperate as much as possible with the investigation, although there is a feeling that it is too late. The situation is critical.
In theory, there are several possible scenarios for today's meeting, which will begin at 17:00 local time:
- suspension of current athletes from competitions and review of the results of the Olympic Games in Sochi;
- inadmissibility of biathletes to the following Olympic Games to Pyeongchang;
- removal of the entire team from the season.
In addition, there is a high probability that the Union will cancel the competitions planned in Russia: the World Junior Championships in Ostrov and the World Cup in Tyumen.
Scheduled for 19:00 Moscow time on December 22, the announcement of the decision of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) on the results of checking information from the report of the head of the independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Richard McLaren, was delayed by two hours.
According to the Championship.com portal, during the announcement IBU decisions both Russian representatives in the organization - IBU Vice-President Viktor Maigurov and head of the international department of the RBU Sergei Mnatskanov - were asked to leave the hall.
Expectations regarding possible sanctions against Russia were justified. Russia will lose the right to host international competitions, scheduled for 2017 - the eighth stage of the Biathlon World Cup in Tyumen this season, as well as the world championship among youth and juniors in Ostrov.
The issue of postponing these competitions was practically a foregone conclusion, since the IBU was under pressure from the national biathlon federations. The biathlon federations of Norway, Great Britain and the Czech Republic announced a possible boycott of the eighth stage of the Biathlon World Cup, which is to be held in Tyumen.
Let us recall that the McLaren commission submitted to the IBU a list of 31 Russian biathletes suspected of using prohibited substances. The head of the International Biathlon Union, Anders Besseberg, promised that before the New Year the organization will review this list and make a decision on those on it.
At the same time, representatives of these federations were less categorical about possible measures in relation to themselves Russian athletes, reports "Gazeta.Ru". As the President of the Czech Biathlon Union Jiri Hamza told the portal Sport.idnes.cz., it would be wrong to punish the entire Russian team, since first of all the Russian officials who covered up the use of doping should be punished.
According to IBU head Anders Besseberg, some of those on the WADA list have already received disqualifications, while others have already completed sports career, however, there are also active athletes of the Russian national team there. The head of the IBU told the Norwegian publication VG that the screening of athletes who may be disqualified for violating anti-doping rules will be carried out within a week.
The most severe possible scenario would have been a complete disqualification of the national team for an indefinite period, but this did not happen. So far we are talking about the temporary suspension from competition of two athletes, whose names have not been named. A special investigation by the IBU will be carried out against the remaining 29 athletes, as well as the Russian Biathlon Union, Gazeta.Ru reports.
As for the transfer of tournaments taken away from Russia, new venues have not yet been determined. It is possible that the federations of Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Norway were interested in transferring these competitions to their countries and was part of their lobbying activities.
On Thursday it also became known about a possible postponement International Union Speed Skaters (ISU) final stage World Cup speed skating, which was planned to be held in Chelyabinsk.
