Dark clouds over ex-biathlon boss

The local authority for economic and environmental crime, Ökokrim, announced this on Monday. The alleged crimes, such as accepting bribes in the form of watches, hunting trips and prostitute services, occurred between 2009 and 2018. Besseberg is presumed innocent. The 77-year-old Besseberg, who has so far denied the allegations related to the cover-up of Russian doping cases, has been under investigation since the end of 2017. His lawyer Christian Hjort said in a written statement to the Norwegian news agency NTB: "Besseberg maintains that he has never accepted bribes or attempted to influence the IBU's anti-doping work to anyone's advantage." Corrupt behavior for years The Norwegian investigators worked closely with Austrian authorities in their lengthy investigations through the EU agency Eurojust, Ökokrim said. In spring 2018, a raid took place at the IBU headquarters in Salzburg. Since then, they have also worked with the relevant authorities in the Czech Republic, Liechtenstein and Canada to interview numerous witnesses and obtain information, it said. An independent and external IBU investigative committee concluded in its own proceedings in 2021 that Besseberg was said to have exhibited “systematically corrupt and unethical behavior” over the years. The long-time head of the association consistently and without any decency favored and protected Russian interests in practically all of his actions, the commission said in its final report at the time. Russia's interests protected Besseberg and an alleged accomplice “protected the interests of the Russian association, especially in connection with the fight against doping, without good reason” for over a decade. Besseberg was not interviewed at the time for health reasons and refused to participate in the investigation. The IBU has been led by Swede Olle Dahlin since autumn 2018. As the association emphasized on Monday, it has always worked closely with all authorities in the complex case and continues to offer full support. In addition, the investigation is still ongoing.

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Dark clouds over ex-biathlon boss

The former president of the Salzburg-based IBU Biathlon World Federation, Anders Besseberg, has been charged with serious corruption in his native Norway.

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