MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Russian biathlete Alexander Loginov and his coach Alexander Kasperovich intend to sue in court interim Anti-Doping Manager of the International Biathlon Union Sarah Fussek-Hakkarainen, who initiated police searches of their hotel rooms at the 2020 IBU World Championship in Italy this month, Kasperovich told TASS on Thursday.
In early hours of February 22, Italian police raided Loginov and Kasperovich’s hotel rooms, in which they stayed for the 2020 IBU World Championship in Italy’s Antholz, and searched the premises.
The police was called by Sarah Fussek-Hakkarainen, who claimed that Kasperovich was using someone else’s accreditation at the championship and, therefore, was allegedly violating anti-doping regulations.
"We are planning to sue in court a person, who set the police after us, and we are speaking here about Sarah Fussek," Kasperovich said. "The lawsuit will be filed with a request of compensation not only for financial, but moral damages as well."
Loginov, 28, won at the 2020 World Biathlon Championship the gold medal in the sprint discipline and the bronze medal in the pursuit competition, but after the police raided his hotel room last Saturday he withdrew from the championship’s final competition, which was a mass start event on Sunday.
"Her actions led to Alexander Loginov’s withdrawal from the championship’s competition," Kasperovich continued. "In the course of two days he was left without a good quality sleep and his blood pressure jumped as a result of all these events."
Kasperovich said the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) would be not involved in the intended lawsuit against Fussek-Hakkarainen and that he would disclose additional details after his consultations with lawyers.
The IBU said in a statement earlier this week that never requested an action of law enforcement in either in regard to Loginov or in regard to Kasperovich.
"In accordance with standard procedure, representatives of the Biathlon Integrity Unit established contact with local law enforcement for the 2020 Biathlon World Championships in Antholz, and shared relevant information and intelligence with them," the IBU stated. "However, the Integrity Unit made no complaint to and requested no action of law enforcement, either in relation to Mr. Alexander Loginov, or Mr. Alexander Kasperovich, or anyone else."