January 23, 2017 – The IBU Executive Board has decided to call for an Extraordinary Congress before the IBU World Championships 2017. The Board fully understands and supports the initiative of the athletes to sharpen the IBU rules for anti – doping offenses towards both the member federations and individual athletes. In order to implement new rules as soon as possible, the IBU Executive Board calls for an Extraordinary Congress to approve rule changes and put them in practice before the IBU WCH 2017 in Hochfilzen/ AUT, Feb. 6-19.