Former IBU President Besseberg charged with corruption: watches, hunting, prostitutes

The former head of international biathlon, Anders Besseberg, was charged with corruption on an especially large scale: he accepted expensive watches as a gift, went hunting “for free”, there were also prostitutes. Also, according to the investigation, he worked for Russian athletes: he turned a blind eye to doping. Besseberg faces up to ten years in prison.

“I gave birth to him, he will kill me.” Anders Besseberg, the former president of the IBU, who led the organization at the time of its creation in 1993, can argue one way or something like this today. For the past five years, the functionary (like IBU Secretary General Nicole Resch) has been under investigation by the Austrian and Norwegian police. Now, the structure under the Norwegian Attorney General, which is investigating economic and environmental crimes, has charged Besseberg with corruption on an especially large scale.

The investigation claims that the ex-president was to blame from 2009 to 2018. And “there is evidence that the defendant received bribes regularly for ten years.” Possible punishment is also up to ten years. Moreover, bribes are named specifically: expensive watches, prostitutes, hunting trips for free.

… For some reason, this thought stuck: how many hours have I accumulated at home over the past ten years? Those that were donated on occasion, without a case, and in general, the devil knows where they came from. Too lazy to look, but one thing is for sure – there are a lot of them. It’s exactly the same thing – they don’t stand like those wristwatches that were found during a search in the house of former IBU President Besseberg. They found 13 pieces from him, 9 were top brands, 4 were released on the occasion of tournaments. And, yes, during the World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk-2011, the Norwegian received a watch for 20 thousand euros.

In general, this case of Besseberg is spinning with some kind of endless repetition. Scrolled, forgotten, again reminded. We found all the watches from the former IBU president a long time ago. And accused of corruption for a long time. Of course, in the beginning it was not without Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, who became the WADA informant that the organization could only dream of. The informant also told about bribes to Besseberg and Resh for loyalty to Russia.

Clock is fine. But the investigation believes that Besseberg used the full range of someone else’s hospitality. In Rodchenkov’s testimony used by the investigation, for example, there is a mention of a conversation in 2013 between Alexander Kravtsov (former director of the CSP and SBR, has now been in a pre-trial detention center for two years on charges of misappropriation of funds) and Alexander Tikhonov. Like, they discussed the bribe given to Besseberg, trying to figure out how much was in the suitcase: 300 or 400 thousand dollars?

I did not look for a suitcase at home. In such cases, much sounds to us, of course, like an anecdote. But for the investigation – as evidence and a reason to dig further. They dug up: for example, the leader went on expensive hunting trips. He did not pay, of course, they paid for him: for weapons, accommodation and duties for trophies.

Besseberg did not deny this: there were invitations to Khanty, and more than once, as in Tyumen. Nicole Resch clarified that the trophies were brought directly to the IBU office. And the good colleagues immediately tensed up and remembered: once they called the boss to hunt in Canada, they said that the expenses were at his expense, and immediately his hunting instinct disappeared.

There were also prostitutes. And the president in disgrace did not deny this. He stated that he “did not go to the street on his own” to pick up the girls. He admitted that he used their services, did not pay, assumed that some Russian officials spoiled him like that. He also said that he did not offer sex to translators, whom informants consider to be endowed with other powers. Although there were suspicions about them. He also remembered a certain dancer who loves biathlon, with whom Besseberg had a connection in Russia.

But this is all – lyrics, although from the world of criminal penalties, but there is an accusation for a sports leader of such a high level and authority and more serious: in the period from 2012 to 2017, violations were hidden for bribes in the amount of 300 thousand dollars (apparently, in a suitcase) doping nature. And 35,000 was illegally paid out as prize money to athletes who shouldn’t have been running and shooting at all if their dubious tests hadn’t been turned a blind eye.

Back in 2021, an IBU independent panel led by WADA’s Jonathan Taylor argued in its investigation that Besseberg “consistently promoted and protected Russian interests in virtually all of his actions.” At the same time, the commission did not find evidence that the International Biathlon Union hid positive doping tests of Russian athletes. But at the same time, the IBU report was lashing out with words: after an “exhaustive investigation”, the commission concluded that both Mr. Anders Besseberg and Ms. Nicole Resch “have cases requiring accountability for violation of IBU rules, based on the obvious protection of Russia’s interests without good reason especially in anti-doping matters.”

To the heap, Besseberg was found to have “obvious gaps in the explanations of personal finances”, he still reacted to the McLaren and Pound reports on doping in Russian sports, and even allowed the World Cup final to be held in Tyumen. In general, the Taylor Commission concluded that Russian biathletes systematically used doping in 2008-2015, “there is more than enough evidence.”

The Norwegians, who have now charged Besseberg, refer to a joint investigation with Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic and Liechtenstein. Besseberg himself continues to persist: he denies accusations of corruption, according to his lawyer, he will tell everything only in court, he will not waste words in advance.

The lawyer says the case was and still is a “huge burden” for the client and his family: he lived with “very serious allegations against him for five years.” He says that Besseberg never took bribes and did not try to influence the IBU anti-doping system in the interests of anyone. And I am glad that “no grounds were found to continue the accusations” that the official received large sums of money in cash “in connection with this.” Anders Besseberg is already 77 years old, 25 of them he headed the IBU.