MOSCOW, November 7, Sergey Fuks. President of the Biathlon Federation St. -Petersburg and two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev said that after some time countries unfriendly to Russia will be asked to join the project of the International Club Biathlon League.
“This format is very timely, but it should have been done 10 years ago. Everyone understands perfectly well that Russian and Belarusian biathletes are professionals, they must run and earn money, and this format should have been brought back to normal. If not for this situation in world, it is unlikely that we would have put all this in order. I note that the sanctions are illegal, over time the IBU’s activities will be assessed, but this will happen after some time,” Vasiliev said at a press conference dedicated to the creation of the project.
“We can’t sit and wait for the weather by the sea, this is a great luxury for us. I can draw parallels between the KHL and our league. This project is needed to maintain the competitiveness of our biathletes, and when the hour comes for negotiations, we must be fully armed “If even now we go up against the same Norwegians who beat all the sick people, it will be difficult to beat them. But this is a question for those who created the absurd system led by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA),” he added.
Vasiliev noted that the creation of the project will benefit the sport in terms of attracting sponsors, but its development should proceed gradually.
“”We have a large prize fund, this will give an impetus to the interest of sponsors and the development of biathlon. We simply have to take advantage of the current situation. I don’t think we need to engage in mischief, we need to understand that it may not be so big right away. pecks at the grain. But then our enemies will come knocking on our door, mark my words, everyone will want to take part in our project,” Vasiliev concluded.
The International Biathlon Union (IBU) Congress in September 2022 decided to uphold the suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions until further notice against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine.