BIU work – Page 3 – Biathlon Integrity Unit

Category: BIU work

Insights from a former athlete

How do experienced athletes juggle their sporting ambitions with a career away from sport? How does their approach to racing and training change over the course of their career? What advice would they give to junior athletes who are just starting out?

In this podcast interview, Austria’s Julian Eberhard, the recently-retired biathlete who won four IBU World Cup victories and two World Championships bronze medals in a career spanning 15 years, takes time out to consider these and other questions.

As an athlete ambassador for the BIU, the experience he gathered during his long career means he has some great advice for up-and-coming athletes.

Click here to listen to the interview.

IBU and BIU take note of the Økokrim announcement on Besseberg case.

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) and the independent Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) take note of the announcement by (Økokrim), the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, that Anders Besseberg, former IBU President, has been indicted on charges of aggravated corruption.

The IBU and the BIU have worked closely with the Økokrim on this complex and long running case and will continue to offer their full and unconditional support in reaching a resolution.

The IBU Executive Board appointed an independent External Review Commission (ERC), chaired by Jonathan Taylor QC, in November 2018 to conduct a full investigation into allegations made against Mr Besseberg. The ERC was independent from the police investigations.

Following an exhaustive investigation, the ERC concluded that Mr Besseberg had a case to answer for breach of the IBU’s rules, based on their apparent protection of Russian interests, particularly in the anti-doping context, without good justification.

The BIU now continues the work started by the ERC.

The Økokrim media release can be found here:

https://www.okokrim.no/former-president-of-the-ibu-international-biathlon-union-indicted-on-charges-of-aggravated-corruption.6592891-549344.html

The Biathlon Integrity Unit is an operationally independent and specialised unit of the International Biathlon Union. It was established in order to ensure all of Biathlon’s stakeholders can have confidence that ethical issues in the sport will be addressed independently and expertly.

Play True Day 2023

Every April since 2014, the anti-doping community worldwide has come together to celebrate the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Play True Day.

Play True Day is a day that is dedicated to Clean Sport and raising awareness among athletes, the sporting public and others of the importance of preventing doping.

The IBU and the BIU are delighted to support this important initiative, which takes place today, 14 April 2023. Biathlon athletes are strongly encouraged to participate as well.

The digital campaign is a shout-out for true sport, reaching millions of people worldwide every year. It is designed to give everyone involved in sport the chance to contribute to clean sport.

This year’s theme is #OnePlayTrueTeam, focusing on the importance of your team.

We asked some athletes and coaches: ‘Who (in your Team) inspires you to Play True?’

The answers we received included:

“I am proud and inspired by my whole team. I think that whoever you hang out with, you act the same […] Play safe and play fair!” (Lovro Planko, SLO)

“My whole team inspires me because they are always against cheating and they are fighting for the truth.” (Markèta Davidová, CZE)

Show us what playing true means to you, and tag us in your Instagram post!

Get your Play True frame from the WADA webpage (https://www.wada-ama.org/en/play-true-day-assets).

Nutrition for the Off-Season

During the season, biathletes need to focus on their diets, as their overall athletic performance depends on how well they fuel their body. Biathletes should focus on the quality of food they eat and refuel when their body needs it. A good mixture of enough carbohydrates and proteins is crucial: carbohydrates give your body the energy it needs, and protein helps to repair and build muscle.

However, it’s important to find a balance between following a diet and allowing room for comfort eating: With the 2022-23 season having reached its conclusion, BIU Athlete Ambassadors for integrity matters Anastasiya Merkushyna (Ukraine) and Sebastian Samuelsson (Sweden) are encouraging athletes to drop the diets, eat healthily – and relax.

Sebastian said: “As a biathlete your body is what you work with. Therefore, it’s important what you eat. But I also like to relax a lot and spring is a time where you don’t have to think about dieting at all!”

The off season is also the time where you can do something for your mental health and wellbeing, and therefor Anastasia states: “We need good food to top up our energy levels, but in spring we also need to think about our mental health, and sometimes the easiest way to do that is just to eat food that is delicious without worrying about how much we eat.”

Dr Tanja Haug joins BIU Board

Dr Tanja Haug, a sports law expert with more than 20 years’ experience, has been appointed to join the Biathlon Integrity Unit’s Board.

Dr Haug was recommended by the BIU’s independent Vetting Panel to the IBU Executive Board, which then appointed her as a new BIU Board Member.

Tanja Haug is a German lawyer with extensive experience in anti-doping, anti-corruption, disciplinary and governance matters. She serves as an independent expert for various national and international sport organisations and has significant expertise in relation to vetting, eligibility checks and investigations into wrongdoing in professional sport. Tanja Haug was a member of the IBU’s External Review Commission and holds a PhD in sports science.

As an arbitrator, Tanja Haug sits for the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal and the International Panel of Sport Resolutions, she is also a member the German Court of Sports Arbitration’s Appointment Committee.

Dr Haug was appointed after the position was advertised following the recent departure of one of the BIU Board’s Independent Members. The BIU Board comprises five members: three Independent Members and two Non-voting Members (Head of the BIU and member from the IBU Executive Board).

Louise Reilly, Chair of the BIU Board, said: “We are delighted that someone of Tanja’s calibre and experience is joining the BIU Board as an independent member and anticipate she will make a significant contribution towards achieving our mission to protect the integrity of Biathlon and ensure a clean and trusted sport.”

Dr Tanja Haug said: “I am very pleased and honoured to have been appointed as an independent member to such a high-profile and prestigious Board and look forward to contributing my wealth of experience to protect the integrity of the fantastic sport of biathlon.”

About the BIU vetting process

The BIU’s vetting process involves careful screening of the past and present status of candidates, to ensure their character, personal and professional circumstances are in line with the IBU’s values.

The process is conducted by an independent body – the Vetting Panel – supported by the BIU.

This ensures that the outcomes of the process are impartial and fair.

The aim is to rule out any potential problems or conflicts of interest before a candidate is appointed.

You can find out more about the vetting process here.

Anti-Doping Education at Youth and Junior World Championships

BIU stages athlete education activities at Youth and Junior World Championships

The BIU staged educational activities at the 2023 Youth and Junior World Championships, which took place in Shchuchinsk, Kazakhstan on 4 to 10 March.

Katharina Gatterer, the BIU’s Safeguarding and Education Officer, led the activities on-site, in collaboration with QAZ NADO, the local National Anti-Doping Organisation.

Anti-doping seminar

An anti-doping seminar for youth athletes was held on 6 March. The seminar was mainly targeted at youth athletes that were competing at a major event for the first time. The session comprised an introduction to anti-doping, including a discussion about fairness and the need for rules in sport, along with an explanation of the doping control procedure, finishing with a Kahoot quiz.

The seminar was well-attended, attracting about 90 athletes from 18 nations.

For many of the athletes, this was their first introduction to the anti-doping process; only a few already had experience of the doping control procedure.

Outreach booth

The BIU ran an outreach booth in the competition venue, together with QAZ NADO on 5 to 7 March.

The booth offered athletes the chance to complete WADA’s anti-doping quiz, while information handouts on anti-doping were also distributed. Katharina and two members from QAZ NADo were on hand to answer questions from athletes and team members.Good attendances were also recorded at the outreach booth, with 126 athletes and coaches from 30 different nations.

A link to the WADA quiz (available in 47 languages) can be found here.

The BIU: it’s not just about testing

A podcast interview with Greg McKenna, Head of the Biathlon Integrity Unit

What is the BIU’s mandate? What is the relationship between the BIU and the International Biathlon Union? Is maintaining integrity in biathlon solely the job of the BIU? How can athletes and others in the biathlon community support the work of the BIU?

There’s a possible misconception that the BIU’s work is almost exclusively concerned with anti-doping testing. In this podcast interview, Greg McKenna, Head of the BIU, seeks to dispel that myth by answering the questions listed above.

The truth is that there’s much more to the BIU’s work than testing. As Greg explains, the BIU seeks to support the biathlon family in protecting the integrity of the sport – and, alongside that, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of participants.

In the interview, Greg also:

· explains how the BIU handles sensitive information it receives from the biathlon community

· describes the BIU’s confidential whistleblowing process

· explains the important role that whistleblowers can play in safeguarding

· and describes the increasing importance of investigations in discovering and prosecuting wrongdoing in biathlon.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Speaking of integrity

How should athletes and others in the biathlon family handle difficult interview questions on integrity topics?

Jon Tibbs, chairman of JTA, the international communications agency that helps its clients achieve their objectives in international sport, has many years of experience of advising organisations and individuals how to navigate difficult and sensitive interviews.

In this, the latest BIU podcast interview, Jon gives some general principles to bear in mind when facing potentially hostile questioning from the media, and recommends a ‘3×3 matrix’ to get your message across that looks like this:

Get your message accross

To find out more, listen to the podcast interview here.

BIU Outreach at the IBU World Cup in Antholz

The BIU held an outreach session at the IBU World Cup in Antholz-Anterselva on 20 January, 2023.

The aim of the Outreach was to interact with athletes and inform them about the day-to-day work of the BIU, including anti-doping, safeguarding, match-fixing, whistleblowing and investigations.

Katharina Gatterer, the BIU’s Safeguarding and Education Officer was on hand to answer the athletes’ and coaches’ questions.

Many athletes stopped by the Outreach stand, and signed a board with the message: ‘Remain true to yourself’.

The BIU aims to hold similar interactions with athletes in all biathlon competition series (Junior Cup, IBU Cup, World Cup and World Championships).

Biathlete Challenges BIUs Use of the CAS for First Instance Hearings

As part of a legal challenge to a sanction imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport Anti-Doping Tribunal (CAS ADD), a Russian biathlete has recently challenged to the validity of the CAS ADD at the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (SFT). In an important decision for the Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU), the SFT has confirmed the validity of the CAS ADD as a first-instance disciplinary tribunal in delegation by sports federations, and the subsequent appeal to the CAS Appeals Division (CAS).

In 2019, the International Biathlon Union delegated its disciplinary authority to the CAS ADD for the latter to act as its Disciplinary Tribunal in replacement of its own Anti-Doping Hearing Panel.

NOTE TO EDITORS

About the Biathlon Integrity Unit:

– The Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) is an operationally independent Unit, which manages all doping and other integrity-related matters for the sport of Biathlon.

– The Unit’s remit includes anti-doping, the pursuit of individuals engaged in competition results manipulation, bribery, breaches of betting rules, and any other violation under the IBU Integrity Code.

– It is the BIU’s vision to ensure Biathlon is a fair, clean and trusted sport. The Unit will strive to earn the confidence, respect and support of both the Biathlon Family and wider sporting community.

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