Anders Besseberg was the head of the Biathlon World Association for 25 years. The Norwegian is said to have been corrupt at the time. And, above all, covered up cases of doping by the Russians.
The former president of the biathlon world association IBU, Anders Besseberg, is accused of serious corruption in Norway.
As reported by the Norwegian investigative authority for white-collar crime, it is about acts in the period from 2009 to 2018. Besseberg is said to have committed bribes in the form of watches, hunting trips and trophies, prostitutes and a leased car that he used in Norway between 2011 and 2018 have, have accepted.
Besseberg’s lawyer Christian B. Hjort explained in a written statement to the Norwegian news agency NTB: “Besseberg maintains that he has never accepted a bribe or attempted to influence the IBU’s anti-doping work to anyone’s advantage.”
His client was a “hardliner” in the fight against doping. “He has insisted that all doping cases must be dealt with in accordance with the rules, whether the suspicion is against athletes from the West or the East. This has made him unpopular with individuals and has given rise to several baseless allegations against him.”
“The seriousness of the matter is underscored by the breach of trust that his actions represent in light of his position as IBU President,” said the prosecutor responsible, Marianne Djupesland, according to a statement. According to Norway, it worked with the Austrian authorities via the EU agency Eurojust during the investigation. Eurojust is responsible for judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the European Union. Authorities in the Czech Republic, Liechtenstein and Canada also supported the investigation.
Besseberg was President of the World Biathlon Association from 1993 to 2018. An independent external review commission (ERC) set up in November 2018 had set out many of the Norwegian’s misconduct in a report in early 2021. After that, he is said to have displayed “systematically corrupt and unethical behavior”. In addition, he “obviously protected Russian interests, especially in connection with the fight against doping,” said an IBU statement on Monday. The integrity office of the world association continues the investigations of the ERC.