Decision of the biathlon commission. Russian biathlon escaped with fright

Mumu is not a troll, Mumu is a drowned woman!

Bovykin Andrey, Good idea.

Necessary tank biathlon hold at the walls of WADA. Demonstration performances.

IrinaD, it’s better to be in the staff)

Now the question is whether Schlesinger and Bailey will consider this punishment sufficient, otherwise they will be delayed at the start for 5 minutes, as promised, as a protest))) I imagine, in a mass start, for example)))

Dmitry, he didn’t care about your high fives. He clearly said that these are your problems and we are not paying him. And you and I can continue to spread rot and argue about the fairness of the system of selection and respect, but so far no one has answered the question - I send my child to biathlon, I want there to be a World Cup - what should I do? Besides charging someone some money?
Lena, did you say they don’t bend?! Bend and are ready for dialogue!

We lost the competition as expected, ours even refused themselves, that’s right, I think there is no need to escalate the situation with new boycotts. And regarding the athletes, our nervousness will continue, and so will theirs. Fingers will be chopped one by one until: 1) Biathlon World Championships; 2) World Cup; 3) Olympics 2018. Well, we'll wait, there are no other options for fans. Unless they raise a wave of demands to make WADA’s activities more transparent.

I'm glad that ibu didn't cave in to McLaren and Vada

Somehow it’s not just two athletes in particular, which ones? And with the rest, what about when, and so on, and how can the guys perform now, suspended in the air?

Alex Pan, you think correctly. The whole point is how to eat the fish (punish Russia) and not get an answer yourself - COURT... Therefore, they will dig, search, and possibly fabricate evidence, as well as legally depersonalize punishment as much as possible in order to avoid personal (IOC, WADA, IBU, etc.) legal liability from possible lawsuits. AND THE MAIN MAIN thing is NOT TO LOSE MONEY, because this is already at the genetic level, punishment is punishment, and the loot is HOLY))

“They suspended Sasha, who is still far from his ideal condition. And Katya, who is also no longer the leader of our female half. The damage is minimal." -
The damage is minimal! Only one and a half people were killed! I really didn’t think that we have such a slave mentality. Someone here suggested excluding us for 40 years? Driving through the desert...

Elen, as Prince Kyiv said to Ilya Muromets, “a woman (a woman, a boor) was a very necessary unit on a campaign!))

Eh, if only McLaren would help reform the RRF... Then I would give him a “FIVE”!

And for those who are not in the subject, please explain. The doping that was supposedly hidden by substituting urine is not detected in the blood?
Are tubes with urine easier to change than tubes with blood? EPO is probably more effective than the doping that they allegedly tried to hide.

Nick Kuzyansky, they could have banned 31, they could have banned the whole camp from biathlon

We discuss the solution in another news:

More details about the results and decision of the IBU commission in a separate news: website

Yes, in the West, too, the intestines have become thinner). They hung me up slightly, I was afraid of more. Some Mutko, or Kravtsov, or Maigurov can safely hang a medal on their chest - as saviors domestic biathlon.

Maria 20120721, it’s more about Glazyrina.

“but really, the results are (to put it mildly) humane” Of course! Of course, “humane!” - they chopped off ONLY TWO fingers! But they could have had as many as 31!

One of the paragraphs of the verdict states that at the moment decisions on temporary suspensions for athletes not associated with the Sochi Olympics, but mentioned in the second part of the McLaren report, have not been made. That is, we can conclude that two biathletes involved in the Games in Sochi have been suspended.

I'll go hang myself

If Loginov doesn’t start tomorrow at Izhevka, does that mean he’s one of the two?

Alex. Andr., will you take me into the company?)

Loginov and Yuryeva were suspended?

Sergey, the athletes will go to court against the IBU and not McLaren - McLaren is not even an official and is not a legal entity. responsibility for the decisions of the federation.
They will simply recheck the tests, including B samples, analyze blood passports and other aspects.

“As long as the national team is not disqualified, save Mudko, we’ll survive the rest.” - we are ready and agree to anything! - even root for a CASTRATED team! So, go ahead and castrate us further!

And now for people like me, clearly and in Russian... What have you decided?!

Karagodin, do you want to go to Tyumen? It's enough for you and me to rob a stall!)) Southern, black, humor!))

on the remaining 29... the veins will be pulled, further bargaining...
but really, the results are (to put it mildly) humane

Tyumen will organize a commercial race, this cannot be prohibited.

Our last stage I don’t really feel sorry for KM either. Because, if you call a spade a spade, then it has long ago turned into a party of the biathlon crowd, in which, as it turned out, there are quite a lot of Russophobes. Let them now replace it with something else - and compare it! I’m sure that they themselves will bite their elbows later

Off topic... I used to think that the most unpleasant biathlete was Pidhrushnaya... Now I’m sure it’s nastier than Gaba SoukouKALOVA - no!

Key:
However, suspicion is not enough to carry out sanctions, and we will continue to go down the professional path, taking into account all opinions, and not act only on suspicion. The correctness of the rules should work in both directions – the guilty and the innocent.”

I’ll say this - if our heroes don’t go to court for Honor and Dignity, as Legkov promised earlier, then they’ll go... let them turn in whoever they want (if it’s on the case), even Putin, but remain athletes.

The guys there were probably intimidated by something. Because the damage from this decision for us is minimal

Elena, they suspended Sasha, who is still far from his ideal condition. And Katya, who is also no longer the leader of our female half. The damage is minimal.

The championship in Ostrov and the stage in Tyumen were taken away from Russia. 2 biathletes will be suspended from the competition, the rest will continue to compete.

the fact that the SBR itself abandoned the stage and the World Cup is the result of bargaining. Now you can only demand a penalty from SBR

biathlonworld.com

IBU Press Release: Extraordinary IBU Executive Board Meeting
Decisions on Further Steps Regarding McLaren Report

December, 22 2016

In the light of alarming findings in the second part of McLaren Report (IP Report), the IBU has set its analysis as the top priority and called for the IBU Extraordinary Executive Board (EB) Meeting to decide on further necessary steps. Following a first review of the report, the 127th EB Meeting took place today in Munich, Germany.

The IBU has downloaded and obtained all documents, made available and recommended by WADA. However, at this point in time the final confirmation from WADA and/ or IP Team on whether the available documentation with regard to IBU result management authority is complete has not been received yet.

At the meeting, the proposals of the working group, that was installed on December 12th 2016 by the board and that consists of experts in the field of Anti – Doping with respect to medical, legal and result management experience, were discussed.

The continuous contact and information exchange with WADA and the IOC has been constructive.

Overall, the IBU received Executive Summaries on 31 athletes, one of them competed only at national level, and another one has already been suspended by the RBU for the same sample as reported by McLaren.

After a thorough evaluation of the available data as of today, the Executive Board decided on the following:

1. Taking note of the opening of Disciplinary Proceedings by the IOC against two athletes;

2. Imposing provisional suspensions upon two athletes, as a consequence of the opening of IOC Disciplinary Proceedings;

3. Opening formal investigations by the IBU against RBU and 29 athletes listed in the McLaren Report 2 (comparable to cases where there is a positive lab report) for cases not related to the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 (which includes the two athletes named above), i. e.

i. notification of each respective athlete and the Russian Federation,

ii. setting a time limit for commenting on the allegation,

iii. further investigation by the IBU Anti-doping administration and the working group;

iv. decision whether or not a charge should be to the Anti - Doping Hearing Panel (further referred to filed as ADHP);

v. adjudication of the case by the ADHP, if applicable, subject to appeal to the CAS.

4. Provisional Suspensions of athletes named by the McLaren Report 2 outside of the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 were not imposed at this point in time.

The Executive Board tasked the working group to investigate further. A decision whether or not a charge should be to the ADHP will be filed in cooperation with legal experts and WADA, who offered to assist the IBU.

Today, the RBU informed the IBU that the Youth and Junior World Championships 2017 that was originally assigned to Ostrov and the BMW IBU World Cup 8 in 2017 that was assigned to Tyumen are given back to the IBU.

The relocation of both above mentioned events will be decided upon later.

IBU President Anders Besseberg stated after the meeting:

“This is a first important step by the Russian Biathlon Union to show to the IBU and to the world of sport that the current situation is taken very seriously. This will now allow the international biathlon family to focus on biathlon during these events.

Findings of the McLaren Report indicated severe problems in Russian sport and it`s Anti – Doping control system. IBU takes all available information very seriously; it is now on us to find out in detail the scale of the problem in Russian Biathlon.

The IBU has always demonstrated zero-tolerance towards doping at all levels by extending the two year ban on a former IBU official, Gottlieb Taschler to all IBU competitions until 12th June 2018. The fight against doping is not an easy one but one of our top priorities. It is important in order to ensure the future of our sport and maintain the trust of our teams, athletes, member federations, partners and fans.

All athletes deserve that we avoid having any shadow on their performance and that they can compete without any doubts and can completely concentrate on their sport activities.
However, suspicion is not enough to implement the sanctions and we will keep going down a professional pathway, considering all opinions, but not acting on suspicion only. Correctness of Rules has to work both ways – for the guilty and for the non – guilty.”

The IBU will keep the public informed on further steps and on biathlonworld. com

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. International Union biathletes (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 Russian biathletes came under suspicion, two of whom were already retired Sochi Olympic medalists 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 has yet to make a ruling on the six suspended Russian skiers, but the precedent set 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 outlined 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 13th 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 at the end of 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 Olympic Games 2014.

This is a positive result of the meeting of the executive committee of the international specialized union, which took place in Munich. At the same time, it became known: the World Cup stage scheduled for March in Tyumen will not take place. Our union was forced to make this decision due to the threat of a boycott of the competition from several countries at once. At the same time, a blow was struck to our speed skating.

The decision of the International Biathlon Union, made the day before at a closed meeting, was largely not a surprise. Lately, sports news has been like a pursuit race: no matter who is on the firing line, there is only one target - Russian sports. During the meeting in Munich, at some point, the vice-president of the International Biathlon Union, Russian Viktor Maygurov, as well as another representative of our country, Sergei Mnatsakanov, was asked to leave the hall, he heads the international department in the Russian Biathlon Union. The decision was announced half an hour later. It is important that collective responsibility was prevented.

“The Russian national team is not suspended from international competitions and continues to participate as a full member. I believe that this is one of the most important decisions today,” said Vice-President of the International Biathlon Union Viktor Maigurov.

Two are suspended from competition Russian biathletes. Their names, for obvious reasons, are not disclosed, as well as the essence of the accusation. An investigation has been launched against another 29 athletes mentioned in the second part of McLaren’s report, as well as the entire Russian Biathlon Union. It is emphasized: all the athletes mentioned did not participate in the Olympic Games in Sochi. There are not enough facts to apply sanctions against Russian biathlon, said the head of the International Biathlon Union, Anders Bässeberg.

“Suspicion is not enough to warrant sanctions and we will continue to pursue a professional approach, taking into account all views rather than acting on suspicion alone. The rules must be followed in both cases, if a person is guilty and if he is innocent,” said Anders Besseberg, president of the International Biathlon Union.

The main result is that our team continues the season. And, judging by the fact that there was no information about replacements, the suspension did not affect the current team members.

“To put it mildly, we won the situation. The team continues to train and compete. Everything else will be in legal relations with the International Biathlon Union,” said Alexander Kravtso, President of the Russian Biathlon Union.

In turn, the Russian Biathlon Union itself refused to hold the World Cup stage in Tyumen, scheduled for March next year. The decision was forced: the biathlon federations of the Czech Republic, Norway, and Great Britain had previously started talking about their intention to boycott him. All this fuss, similar to lubricating skis before the start, was commented on by biathlon world champion Frenchman Simon Fourcade: this is a blow to the fans. By the way, more than 20 thousand tickets were purchased for the Tyumen stage.

“Punish fans instead of real violators. What kind of sanctions! I want people involved in doping to be punished. Or, if there is no evidence, let's return everything as it was. And if they exist, then let's apply real sanctions. But there was no need to create so much noise about nothing in recent weeks,” says biathlon world champion Simon Fourcade.

This is exactly the case when ado about nothing becomes, if not an argument, but quite a guide to action. A proven method: earlier, after statements of intention to boycott competitions of athletes from the USA, Great Britain, Korea and Latvia, Russia lost the Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships, which were to be held next year in Sochi. And the next thing to come under attack was biathlon. The sister of Sochi Olympic champion Anton Shipulin, biathlete Anna Maslova, says one thing: it is impossible to influence the situation.

“It’s sad, sad, of course it is. It's very sad that politics got involved here. And I think all this is unfair,” says biathlete, sister of Olympic champion Anton Shipulin, Anna Maslova.

But the Tyumen stage is not all: in the city of Ostrov, Pskov region, the Youth and Youth World Championships are cancelled. They were also supposed to take place in 2017. But, as noted, following the meeting, international biathlon competitions for this season alone will not take place in Russia.

“The next season, which theoretically starts in spring or summer, everything remains in force. I mean the World Summer Biathlon Championships, which are scheduled for the end of August in the city of Tchaikovsky. It remains valid. It remains on the calendar,” said Vice-President of the International Biathlon Union Viktor Maigurov.

But international competition in a different form has disappeared from the Russian calendar. Stage of the World Cup in speed skating, which was being prepared in Chelyabinsk. The day before, the International Skating Union decided to postpone final stage World Cup from Russia to another country. Our Skating Union has already stated that in this case they will seek partial compensation - material losses. The decision to postpone the championship was reportedly made in connection with the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee not to hold competitions in Russia.

Broadcast

From the beginning From the end

Don't update Update

Gazeta.Ru ends the online broadcast of the IBU meeting, but continues to monitor the situation.

An emergency meeting of the IBU ended in Munich, at which the issue of removing 31 Russian biathletes mentioned in the second part of McLaren’s report from performing at international competitions was considered. As a result, only two of them were temporarily disqualified. An official investigation has been opened against the rest. In addition, the RBU refused to host the World Cup in Tyumen and the World Youth Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk.

There are rumors that, in parallel, the International Skating Union (ISU) has moved the final stage of the Speed ​​Skating World Cup from Chelyabinsk.

The results of the meeting were briefly commented by IBU President Andres Besseberg. “This is the first important step on the part of the Russian Biathlon Union,” said the functionary. - It shows that the current situation in sports is very serious. Now the biathlon family can focus on biathlon while the investigation continues.”

The venue for the Russian stage of the World Cup will be determined later. The question of canceling the tournament has not yet been discussed.

In addition, a special investigation by the IBU will be carried out against the RBU and 29 biathletes. Let us recall that in the second part of the report of WADA expert McLaren, 31 domestic biathletes appeared.

According to Match TV, two Russian biathletes have been temporarily suspended from competition. Their names have not yet been announced.

And here is the long-awaited news! According to Championship.com, the Russian Biathlon Union refused to hold the Biathlon World Cup in Tyumen this season, as well as to organize the world championship among youth and juniors in Ostrov. It is clear that the decision was made under pressure: a number of national teams threatened to boycott the Tyumen stage. We are waiting for developments.

The IBU continues to remain silent.

We just state: there is no news at quarter past eight.

No information...

One can only guess what caused such a long pause. It was understood that the decision would be announced at 19:00. It is possible that the assessors do not have a common opinion on this issue.

Let's turn to the next insider from Championship.com. According to the portal, both representatives of Russia - IBU Vice-President Viktor Maigurov and the head of the international department of the RBU Sergei Mnatskanov - were asked to leave the hall during the announcement of the decision.

There is no solution yet. The official IBU newsletter is silent. We are waiting...

15 minutes of waiting left. In fact, the IBU decision is known in theory; all that remains is to wait for the official results.

President of the Czech Biathlon Union Jiri Hamza continues to call for depriving Russia of the right to host major international competitions, but considers it wrong to punish the entire Russian team “In my opinion, first of all, Russian officials who covered up the use of doping should be punished. Russia should also lose the right to host major competitions for five years,” sport.idnes.cz quoted Hamza as saying.

According to the German press, local ski union refused to make any statements until the official decision of the IBU Executive Committee.

According to Championship.com, the official part of the meeting is over, the report has been heard. Probably, at these moments, measures are being discussed that should be taken regarding the RBU and the Russian biathlon team.

The decision on the admission of Russian biathletes to the January World Cup stages will definitely be made today. This was announced by the President of the Swedish Biathlon Federation, Vice-President of the IBU Olle Dahlin. He chose not to comment on the boycott situation, ABC Nyheter reports.

Let us note that the next, fourth stage of the Biathlon World Cup will take place in early January in Oberhof. Its schedule is already known, but whether the Russians will perform there is not yet known. However, there is not long to wait for the verdict to be announced. Just two hours... 4th stage January 2-8, Oberhof, Germany

January 5 - sprint (men) January 6 - sprint (women) January 7 - pursuit (men) January 7 - pursuit (women) January 8 - mass start (men) January 8 - mass start (women)

The Chairman of the State Duma Committee spoke on the current situation Mikhail Degtyarev. In the politician’s opinion, the World Cup in Tyumen will “remain a bone in the throat of the Western world until it takes place within the specified time frame or until it is postponed.”

“We, for our part, insist on moving away from the practice of collective responsibility of athletes, we protest against segregation on national, racial and ethnic principles,” Sport-Express quotes Degtyarev. — Boycott as a tool in itself is counterproductive. It shows the weakness of some national federations. But this is their right, and it is very difficult to influence the situation in this case. Western federations, unfortunately, violate the fundamental principles of sport by allowing illegal decisions against entire countries and teams. But politics is present in all world sports - from bobsleigh to football, so we must end with the mantra “sport is beyond politics.” Sport has always been and will be one of the tools of political struggle. This means that we need to take tougher positions on all negotiating issues, introduce our functionaries into international organizations. And only English-speaking young people with a crystal reputation can be introduced there, preferably with Olympic medals. We have plenty of them.”

It is very interesting that among the supporters of the boycott of the World Cup stage in Tyumen there was no Ukrainian Biathlon Federation, whose president Vladimir Brynzak called for first to wait for the results of the proceedings. “If there is evidence, let them be punished as it should be,” obozrevatel.com quotes the words of the functionary. -What should we boycott? Once they make a decision, then we will see what happens in the world. Now everyone is talking a lot, but I don’t want to talk, but to do what is necessary at the appropriate moment.”

The Czech national team has already announced that won’t go to Tyumen if it’s still there will pass the stage World Cup. The odious legend of Russian biathlon Alexander Tikhonov commented on this in his own style: “Jiri Hamza (president of the Czech Biathlon Federation) is a bad basketball player and a bad winemaker. He used to play bad basketball, and now he’s a winemaker who makes bad wine. For some reason he is inciting other countries now. The fact that the Czech Republic abandoned the stage in Tyumen means one thing: there will be more space. Only Czech athletes will suffer from this. Apparently, Hamza wants to get the world championship in Nove Mesto.”

Alexander Pak, member of the SBR board, shares the same opinion.

“I don’t think anything global will be announced. Regarding the boycott of the Czech Republic, they have their own interest, because they lost the fight for the World Cup to Tyumen. It is impossible to say for sure whether the countries that want to boycott the competition are right. It's their right. But first it is necessary to prove the involvement of Russian athletes in doping manipulations. The presumption of innocence must apply here. So far, there is no evidence other than the names indicated in the report,” he said in an interview with Sport-Express.

— It’s too early to talk about a global boycott; we must wait for evidence and decisions. There is no need to panic. It is unknown whether biathletes even participated in the manipulation of samples, because their job is to train and take doping tests. And what they do with them next: how they are collected, how they are transported, how they are checked - this is not the business of the athletes. If we take the right measures, there is no need to fear for the 2021 World Cup.”

Well-known biathlon journalist, Match TV employee Ilya Trifanov shares his insight that today no harsh sanctions are expected, especially for athletes. Let's wait and see.

One of the few who categorically spoke out against the complete removal of the Russian team from biathlon competitions was IOC President Thomas Bach. However, his statements did not become popular, and now 24 anti-doping organizations, including the British and American agencies, have expressed disappointment with Bach’s decision to refuse them a meeting to discuss the problem of reforming the system.

“The heads of national anti-doping agencies are disappointed that Bach was unable to accept our invitation to meet. The emergence of the second part of the McLaren report and the urgent need for reforms in the anti-doping system only increase the importance of the conversation between the agencies and the head of the IOC,” The Guardian quotes the text of a joint statement by the upset organizations.

We have a rather long day ahead, because the announcement IBU decisions scheduled for 19.00 Moscow time. Now the anti-doping commission of the International Biathlon Union has just gathered for its meeting - a significant one for the entire Russian and world biathlon.

It is doubly disappointing that, due to recent events, the results of the Russian national team in the World Cup have remained in the shadows. Anton Babikov has already won among the men, Tatyana Akimova recorded the victory and the podium among women, and Anton Shipulin has gained shape and is beginning to put pressure on the incomparable Martin Fourcade. It would be an incredible pity if “pure” Russian athletes find themselves out of the game...

Even now, when it is difficult to assess what the final decision will be, it seems quite obvious that the World Cup stage and the Junior World Cup will be taken away from Russia. And here the locomotive and beacon for the IBU is the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, which moved its upcoming world championship from Sochi.

“I was shocked by this information that appeared a week ago. But then information appeared that this number included athletes who had already completed their careers, as well as those who competed only in domestic competitions. After that I let go a little,” he said, “ Soviet sports» double Olympic champion Sergey Chepikov. “But there is still a chance that we will not be allowed to participate in the World Cup. But the worst thing is if collective responsibility is included and our entire team is not allowed to participate in the 2018 Olympics.”

However, not everyone is afraid of the team being completely suspended. So, famous trainer Dmitry Alikin believes that things will not come to this. Indeed, I really wouldn’t want Anton Shipulin and other athletes who are not involved in this story to suffer.

The decision will be made today at 15.00 Moscow time, but in the meantime there are alarming news from other sports. So, today in the Swedish Expressen some specifics appeared on the names of Russian skiers encoded in the report, who, according to McLaren’s group, were involved in manipulation of doping tests.

It's about leading Russian skiers Maxim Vylegzhanin, Alexander Legkov and Nikita Kryukov. For example, Vylegzhanin, according to the publication, took anabolic steroid trimetazidine, the use of which is subject to a 4-year disqualification. The athlete used the drug a month before the Games, and then his doping samples were manipulated in the laboratory. Vylegzhanin won three silver medals in Sochi 2014.

“The prospects for this case are difficult to assess unambiguously,” said Vladimir Starinsky, managing partner of the Starinsky, Korchago and Partners bar association. - It is only obvious that Russian athletes It is unlikely that it will be possible to use such a move as a reference to the expiration of the statute of limitations (in accordance with Article 16 Anti-doping rules IBU, they are eight years. — “Gazeta.Ru”). There are chances that biathletes will be able to avoid sanctions or mitigate them if it is proven that the prohibited substance was used through no fault or negligence of theirs (Article 10.5.1 of these rules). Likewise, athletes have a chance to prove the insignificant nature of their guilt, which would allow them to reduce the period of disqualification to half the required period (Article 10.5.2 of these rules). However, whether athletes will be able to take advantage of this “window of opportunity” depends on the persuasiveness of the arguments they present.”

Let us remember that it all started after the second part of Richard McLaren’s report on the use of doping in Russian sports. It was about Sochi 2014 and just about winter species sports A study by Professor McLaren and his group, for which $1.8 million in anti-doping money was allocated, found the participation of 31 (!) Russian biathletes in various doping stories. We are talking about both athletes and sportswomen who have already completed their careers, as well as those who are racing in the World Cup now. But there are also athletes on the list who performed (or continue to perform) only in the domestic arena, without ever making it to international competitions.

IBU President Anders Besseberg quickly issued a statement that his organization would carefully study all the facts presented in the report and then make an informed decision. Subsequently, the tone of Besseberg’s statements only became harsher, moreover, the head of the IBU stated that his organization received additional data from the World Anti-Doping Agency that was not in McLaren’s report. What kind of data this is, one can only guess.

Hello, dear fans! Welcome to the text broadcast of today's biathlon events. Everything looks very alarming, but in fact it could become very sad if the International Biathlon Union (IBU) makes a decision to exclude the entire Russian team from participating in the World Cup! The holding of the World Cup in Tyumen and the Junior World Championship in Ostrov in 2017 is also in question. Alexander Sedov will follow the developments with you.

Text broadcast of the decision on the fate of Russian biathlon.

Online starts at 14.00 Moscow time.