MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The independent External Review Commission (ERC) of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) has concluded that former Presidents of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Alexander Tikhonov and Alexander Kravtsov were complicit in several corruption violations, reads the ERC report published by the IBU.

The commission claims that Kravtsov and Tikhonov attempted to buy votes at the IBU Congress elections in 2014. The claims are based on testimony of an unnamed source who granted access to their email. The source provided a letter sent to several member federations of the Balkans which reads that the RBU was willing to allocate annual support to countries of the region on the condition that they back Russian candidates during the elections to the IBU Congress in 2014.

The ERC also made the claim that Tikhonov attempted to bribe former IBU Secretary General Nicole Resch. According to Resch’s testimony, Tikhonov offered her a bribe of a jewelry box during the 2008/09 season in exchange for terminating doping cases launched by the IBU against Russian biathletes Ekaterina Iourieva, Albina Akhatova and Dmitry Yaroshenko.

Alexander Tikhonov served as the RBU President (1996-2008) and Vice President (2008-2010) as well as the first Vice President of the IBU (2002-2009).

Alexander Kravtsov was the Chef de Mission at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games and headed the RBU between 2014 and 2018. He is currently under investigation for embezzlement charges.