‘Anti-doping officer personally initiated police raid without IBU authorization’ – Russian biathlon head Vladimir Drachev

The head of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Vladimir Drachev revealed that a shocking police raid on Russian biathletes was initiated by IBU interim Anti-Doping Manager Sarah Fussek-Hakkarainen who personally signed the inquiry.

Her actions which triggered a massive police investigation were not authorized by the International Biathlon Union (IBU) which was unaware of Fussek-Hakkarainen’s intentions.

READ MORE: Italian police search surging Russian biathlete Loginov HOURS before race

“I have just spoken with the IBU vice-president,” Drachev told RT. “IBU Interim Anti-Doping Manager Hakkarainen who had been expelled from the International Ski Federation (FIS) signed all the papers without authorization of the IBU and triggered a police investigation. She was expelled from FIS for taking unsanctioned actions. Now I asked our IBU colleagues: ‘What are you going to do?’ They said they will think about what to do with her. ‘It’s too late’ I told them,” he added.

The RBU president clarified that the reason for the raid which took place just hours before the men’s relay race was a technical problem with Russian team coach Alexander Kasperovich’s documents who used accreditation issued for another person.

Russian team coach Anatoly Khovantsev confirmed that Kasperovich worked at the IBU World Championship using accreditation of a Ukrainian colleague. He also explained that the number of accreditations given to each country is strictly limited and the RBU couldn’t accredit Kasperovich for the world championship, as all accreditations were given long before the tournament.

On Saturday, Russian team leader Alexander Loginov was subjected to a search by Italian police who seized his laptop and phone as part of an investigation into the possible doping violation.