23 January 2017

IBU to tighten anti-doping rules ahead of February World Championships

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has responded to athlete calls for a tightening of its rules regarding doping by calling an Extraordinary Congress ahead of its World Championships, which take place from 8-19 February. ‘In order to implement new rules as soon as possible, the IBU Executive Board calls for an Extraordinary Congress to approve rule changes and put them into practice before the IBU WCH in Hochfilzen, AUT’, read a statement.

It is understood that approximately 50 athletes and coaches walked out of a meeting with IBU officials at a World Cup event in Antholz, Italy, at the weekend after voicing dissatisfaction with the IBU’s management of the findings of the Independent Person (IP) Reports compiled for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) by Richard McLaren. On Saturday, the IBU dismissed cases against 22 of the 29 Russian biathletes implicated in Part Two of the McLaren Report.

It is understood that the athletes were not satisfied with the IBU’s response to its petition, which was delivered to the IBU on 13 January and called for more stringent sanctions against national teams who continued to report anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs). ‘The proposals from the athletes’ letter, received on January 13th 2017, are appreciated and taken seriously’, read an IBU statement. ‘The proposals are now forwarded to the Legal Committee in order to draft proposals to the Executive Board for future rule amendments to be tabled at the next Congress’. However, that Congress was not due to take place until 2018.

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