Expensive watch ticked for Anders Besseberg – Sport – Kommersant

Anders Besseberg, the former president of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) and one of the main heavyweights among sports functionaries, has been charged with corruption on an especially large scale. According to investigators, the Norwegian committed crimes in the past decade, accepting expensive gifts, including expensive watches and prostitutes. Approximately the same accusations were already made against Mr. Besseberg before he was forced to resign from his post in 2018, and representatives of the Russian biathlon were called the main beneficiaries of his activities.

The structure under the Norwegian Attorney General, investigating economic and environmental crimes, reported that the former president of the International Biathlon Union, Anders Besseberg, was charged with corruption on an especially large scale. They carry penalties of up to ten years in prison. According to investigators, Besseberg committed crimes between 2009 and 2018. The head of the department responsible for the Besseberg case, Marianne Hupesland, said that “there is evidence that the accused has regularly received bribes for ten years.”

The Norwegian prosecutor’s office refers to bribes “a few expensive hours”, the use of the services of prostitutes paid by the official’s partners, and “free hunting trips.”

In addition, Anders Besseberg is believed to have leased a BMW X5, paid for by Infront, an IBU-affiliated marketing company.

We are talking about the continuation of one of the most high-profile corruption crises in sports, in the center of which was Mr. Besseberg, who was once considered one of the main heavyweights among sports functionaries. He has led the IBU since its inception in 1993, and under him biathlon has evolved from a near-marginal sport to a top-tier sport, highly sought after by the public and sponsors. The crisis arose in the spring of 2018, when Anders Besseberg and the secretary general of the organization, German Nicole Resch, became defendants in an investigation conducted by the Austrian and Norwegian police.

It was alleged that in the period from 2012 to 2017, for bribes in the amount of $ 300 thousand from interested parties, they hid doping violations.

In addition, according to investigators, another €35,000 was illegally paid as prize money to athletes who would not have been able to compete if their cases had been given a go. At the same time, as the main beneficiaries of the alleged illegal activities of Anders Besseberg, who was forced to resign and give way to the Swede Olle Dahlin, called Russian athletes.

Officials were also suspected of being involved in the “sale” of votes in the elections for the capital of the 2021 World Cup, which Tyumen won. True, at the end of 2017, she lost this right. The Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) was downgraded to the status of a temporary member due to numerous previously recorded doping violations, as well as on the basis of data from the report of an independent expert of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Richard McLaren. Such a sanction imposed a number of restrictions on the RRF. Russia lost, among other things, the right to claim to host international competitions. The Russian side flatly refused to acknowledge the abuses.

And already in January 2021, an independent IBU commission actually confirmed the conclusions of the police by publishing its own report on Anders Besseberg. It stated that he “consistently promoted and defended Russian interests in virtually all of his actions.”

These allegations also applied to the alleged episodes of concealment of doping cases, for which Mr. Besseberg preferred to accept payment with prostitutes and hunting trips.

The Norwegian department, which brought charges against Anders Besseberg, explains them by referring to the results of a joint investigation with the Austrians, and also mentions “assistance” in its continuation from the authorities of Canada, the Czech Republic and Liechtenstein.

Besseberg, 77, meanwhile, appears to continue to deny allegations of corruption. His lawyer, Christian Yort, said in a statement that he would not respond “in detail” to each of them, but would present his position in court. At the same time, it is approximately clear what it will consist of. Anders Besseberg’s lawyer insists that as president of the IBU, he always took a “hard line” on doping violations, whether the athlete was from the “East or the West” and “this made him unpopular in both camps” .

The IBU itself reacted extremely positively to the news of the criminal prosecution of the man who led it for a quarter of a century. The federation promised the Norwegian prosecutor’s office “full support” in the process.

Alexey Dospekhov