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Russian Biathlon Union urges IBU to stop persecution of Loginov

At the current 2020 IBU World Championships in Italy, Alexander Loginov won gold in the sprint and bronze in the pursuit

ANTHOLZ /Italy/, February 24. /TASS/. The Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) will demand from the International Biathlon Union (IBU) that the Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) stop its actions against Russian biathlete Alexander Loginov, RBU President Vladimir Drachev said on Sunday.

"We will appeal to the IBU to have those actions of the new unit - BIU - be stopped, since it evidently provokes the response. We are ready for dialogue, but not for the conflict," Drachev said.

On Sunday, Loginov announced he would pull out of the mass start race of the 2020 IBU World Championships. His decision was sparked by the searches carried out by Italian police in his hotel room. Police stormed into the biathlete’s room in early hours on Saturday at the request of the International Biathlon Union (IBU). Earlier, Drachev told TASS that the IBU request was linked to the fact that Loginov’s coach Alexander Kasperovich was using another person’s credentials at the 2020 IBU World Championships.

Loginov was suspended from competitions by the Russian Biathlon Union in 2013 because of a suspicion doping test. The International Biathlon Union rechecked his doping test in 2014 to find erythroietin, a prohibited substance. In July 2015, it was decided to ban him from competitions for a term of two years since the recheck date. The ban expired on November 2016. After he came back in sports, he has been subject of bashing from many leading biathletes.

At the current 2020 IBU World Championships in Italy, Loginov won gold in the sprint and bronze in the pursuit.

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