The verdict is in. Anders Besseberg (photo above), 78, the former president of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), was sentenced to a prison term of three years and one month. The Buskerud district court, 60 km west of Oslo, found the Norwegian leader, at the head of world biathlon for a quarter of a century (1993 to 2018), guilty of aggravated corruption between 2009 and 2018. He is notably accused of having accepted luxury watches, prostitutes and hunting trips from Russian officials, in exchange for his silence on a large number of cases of doping in Russian biathlon. “ I am of course disappointed and surprised by this decision and certain reasoning of the judges, expressed Anders Besseberg in court, after the judgment was read. I appeal immediately". The prosecution had requested three years and seven months in prison, plus a fine of one million crowns (more than 88.000 euros). The court did not impose a fine, but ordered the Norwegian to return the gifts worth 1,4 million crowns. “ Even though I received expensive gifts and was invited by many people to go hunting, I must emphasize that I never allowed myself to be bribed“, he told the court during his trial. In a press release published a few hours after the announcement of the verdict, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) explained "welcome the guilty verdict”pronounced by the Norwegian court. It recalls having opened an investigation into this matter in November 2016, through its independent Intelligence and Investigations department. “ WADA investigators were in close contact with law enforcement authorities in Austria and Norway, as well as INTERPOL,”specifies the agency.
