Britain set to boycott 2017 World Cup event in Russia

The British Biathlon Union (BBU) has announced its decision to boycott the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup event in the Russian city of Tyumen in March next year.

"Further to our comments on the McLaren Report, there have been some fast moving developments," the BBU said in a statement posted on its official website on Wednesday, reports on Wednesday.

"The IBU was informed late on Monday 19 December that The Board of the British Biathlon Union had taken the unanimous decision that GBR will not compete at BWC 8 in Tyumen March 2017."

According to the report, delivered earlier in the month in London by the World Anti-Doping Agency Independent Commission and its chairman, Canadian sports law professor Richard McLaren, over 1,000 Russian athletes competing in summer, winter and Paralympic sports could have been involved in the manipulations system to conceal positive doping tests.

McLaren's report claimed in particular that doping samples of 12 Russian medallists of 2014 Winter Games in Sochi had been tampered with. In addition, doping tests of two more Russian athletes, who won four gold medals of the 2014 Sochi Olympics had been falsified as well.

The report did not mention particular names and McLaren later said the decision against making public the names of athletes, who are allegedly guilty of doping abuse, was made in respect to their private life, and, moreover, it should be done by international sports federations and not him personally.

--IANS

sam/vm