Norwegian police on Monday accused the former president of the International Biathlon Federation (IBU), Anders Besseberg, of “aggravated corruption”. He is suspected of having covered up Russian doping cases in exchange for favors.
“There is enough evidence to show that he accepted bribes continuously over a period of 10 years,” said Marianne Djupesland, an official of Økokrim, a branch of the police specializing in economic affairs. and environmental.
According to the Økokrim statement, Mr Besseberg, president of the IBU from 1992 to 2018, accepted “watches, hunting parties and trophies, prostitutes and a rental car” during his tenure. These suspicions, which relate to facts running from 2009 to 2018, echo the conclusions of a damning report published in January 2021 by an independent commission set up by the IBU.
The 77-year-old Norwegian denies any wrongdoing. “Mr. Besseberg asserts that he never allowed himself to be corrupted and that he did not try to influence the anti-doping work of the IBU in favor of anyone,” said his lawyer, Christian Hjort, quoted by the Norwegian agency NTB.
For its part, the IBU said it “take note” of the indictment of its former president and affirmed “to work closely with Økokrim on this complex file”.
In 2021, the IBU’s external audit commission, set up by the Swede Olle Dahlin, who had succeeded Mr. Besseberg, concluded that the Norwegian had protected Russian interests for many years with the help of his managing director, the German Nicole Resch.
Based on testimonies from whistleblowers, searches by Austrian and Norwegian police and a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the document pinned Mr. Besseberg for receiving at least US$200,000 (US$267,000). $CA) of Russian officials, having been invited to hunting parties in Russia and having received the services of prostitutes. In return, he allegedly directly concealed several cases of doping and lobbied intensely in favor of Russia.