Russian Embassy In Austria Hires Lawyers To Clear Up Situation With National Athletes

The Russian Embassy in Vienna has asked its lawyers to clear up the situation in regard to members of the Russian national team at the 2018 IBU World Cup Biathlon in Austria's Hochfilzen, a spokesman for the Embassy told TASS on Thursday.

VIENNA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Dec, 2018 ) :The Russian Embassy in Vienna has asked its lawyers to clear up the situation in regard to members of the Russian national team at the 2018 IBU World Cup Biathlon in Austria's Hochfilzen, a spokesman for the Embassy told TASS on Thursday.

"Jointly with the Russian Sports Ministry and the Russian Biathlon Federation, the Embassy decided to involve lawyers to clear up the situation with relevant bodies in Austria," Bulat Khaidarov said.

Russian sports television correspondent Dmitry Guberniev earlier said that the police had accused several Russian biathletes and coaches of violating anti-doping rules at the 2017 Biathlon World Championships. The athletes facing new anti-doping accusations are 2014 Olympic champion Anton Shipulin, Evgeny Garanichev and Alexander Loginov.

The list also includes biathletes Alexey Volkov, Irina Starykh, former head coach of the Russian national team Alexander Kasperovich, doctors and massage therapists Artyom Kryntsilov, Alexander Selyavkin, Evgeny Shutov and Dmitry Topychkanov.

Guberniev later told Russia's Match-TV channel that those on the list would have to provide explanations to the police on Thursday.

Russian biathlete Alexander Loginov wrote on his Instagram page on Thursday that the Austrian police were accusing Russian biathletes of fraudulent schemes involving blood transfusions at the 2017 World Championship.

A source in Hochfilzen familiar with the case corroborated the information to TASS about the police visiting the team's location. He noted though that none of the Russian athletes had been detained, adding that Garanichev, Loginov, Starykh and Topychkanov are currently in Hochfilzen.

Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov has confirmed the information about the accusations, saying that the Austrian police were conducting an investigation against Russian biathletes and specialists of the team. The International Biathlon Union (IBU), the Russian Sports Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and other organizations are taking steps to investigate the circumstances of the case, Kolobkov said.