Austrian police question Russian biathlon team on suspicion of doping violations

RT
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 19:10 UTC

Austrian police officers have visited the Russian biathlon team's training camp in Hochfilzen to question athletes and coaches over alleged doping violations which supposedly took place two years ago.

Russian biathletes are in Austria for the Biathlon World Cup, and talked to police regarding suspected doping manipulations during the 2017 World Championship, which was hosted in Hochfilzen.

Dmitry Guberniev, a prominent Russian TV commentator and biathlon pundit, posted the news on Instagram, where he also published a list of the team members suspected by the Austrian authorities.

"Several hours ago Austrian police made a surprise visit to the Russian biathlon camp!!!" Guberniev wrote.

"Here is the list of athletes, coaches and doctors who have been accused of violating anti-doping rules during the 2017 in Hochfilzen.

"In Austria it's a criminal offence!!! Everyone mentioned in the list should give their explanations to police!!!

"I'm just wondering why the issue has been raised right now, almost two years ago after the championship? Our athletes have been regularly tested over the past years and there have been no questions regarding their cleanness."

Taking banned performance-enhancing drugs is a serious crime in Austria, with athletes facing up to three years in prison if found guilty.

At the 2017 Biathlon World Championships Russia claimed just one medal after the men's team finished first in the relay event.

Comment: Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had this to say:

"During the night there was somewhat wild information from Austria detailing that representatives of the Austrian police visited the Russian training camp to hand over notifications regarding doping accusations against some of our leading athletes," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"I really don't understand what's going on in Europe and what traditions have started to emerge there to make a night raid on the Russian camp on the eve of important sports competitions. They created a strange, destabilizing and depressing situation of threats while trying to explain something and hand over some notifications," she added.

It remains unclear what kind of charges have been brought against the Russians, but Alexander Loginov, who is on the controversial list of suspects, clarified that the Austrian authorities have been investigating alleged "manipulations with blood transfusion."

Since the 2017 World Championship in Hochfilzen Russian biathletes have undergone multiple doping checks with no positive tests emerging.