Antholz (dpa) - The Russian sprint world champion Alexander Loginow was interrogated by the Italian police on the sidelines of the biathlon world championships in Antholz.
According to a report by the Russian state agency Tass, the hotel room of the 28-year-old biathlete was searched. Personal things, including a phone and a computer, had been confiscated. Head coach Alexander Kasperovich is said to have been searched. Loginow has been banned for two years due to EPO doping, and has been allowed to start again since November 2016. He won the World Championship sprint in Antholz and celebrated his first big success. Loginow had always emphasized to be clean.
The World Biathlon Association IBU has announced that it will support the investigations by the Italian authorities. As long as the investigation has not yet been completed, no further comment will be made, it said in a message.
The Russian Ministry of Sports asked the Russian Biathlon Federation (RBU) to disclose all information about the incident and the circumstances. In the event of an indictment, those affected are presumed to be innocent, the ministry said. Russian diplomatic missions in Italy are on site to support the athletes and review the reports, the embassy in Rome tweeted. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked for clarification.
Race calendar biathlon world championship
Message
Twitter Russian Embassy
Video from Sport-ru