Alexander Kravtsov (Александра Кравцова), Director of the Centre of Sports Preparation (CSP) for Russia’s national teams, has been arrested and detained on charges of embezzlement, reports Kommersant. It is understood to be alleged that approximately RUB14 million (€156,300) was paid to fictitious CSP employees between January 2015 and December 2017.

Kravtsov was Director of the CSP from 2009. He is still listed as Director of the CSP on the Ministry of Sport’s internet site, last updated on 15 July this year. He replaced Mikhail Prokhorov (Михаи́л Про́хоров) as President of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) in May 2014, and is implicated in Russian State doping in an affidavit provided by Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, former Director of the Moscow Laboratory who is now under the protection of the US Federal Witness Protection Programme.

In the affidavit, Kravtsov is named as initiating discussions about half the Russian biathlon team being under the control of Stanislav ‘Stastik’ Dmitriev, a source of Erythropoietin (EPO) for the Russian national team. Dr. Rodchenkov also mentions that Kravtsov was chief of Russia’s Olympic delegation at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, and told him about the positive tests of Irina Starykh and Ekaterina Iourieva for rEPO ahead of the Games (click here to download decision). 

At Play The Game 2019, Yuriy Ganus (Ю́рий Га́нус) told The Sports Integrity Initiative that Kravtsov was being investigated. In charges that are remarkably similar, Ganus was dismissed as Director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) after also being accused of embezzlement, but a criminal investigation against him has yet to be launched. It is understood that Kravtsov has been detained at Moscow’s Petrovka detention centre, and will face trail at Moscow’s Basmanny District Court, described as ‘pro-government’ by Dr. Rodchenkov in his book. If convicted, it is understood he could face ten years in prison.