World biathlon union head quits after claims of bribery to hide Russian doping
Paris — The International Biathlon Union (IBU) said on Thursday that its president was stepping down after raids in Austria and Norway over allegations that officials took bribes to cover up Russian doping. Anders Besseberg "has informed the IBU executive board that he is stepping down from his position as long as the investigation is ongoing," biathlon’s world governing body said. According to a damning World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) assessment reported by France’s Le Monde, the IBU did "everything so that no proceedings would be opened against the Russians" over doping. Wada confirmed on Wednesday that it had conducted "an investigation into the activities of the IBU … related to doping", but gave no further details. Austrian prosecutors said on Thursday that following their raid on IBU headquarters in Salzburg this week, they were investigating possible doping, fraud and bribery. In their sights are IBU staff and athletes and officials from Russia’s biathlon team, prosecutors sa...
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