June 05, 2018 (Leogang, Austria) – The IBU Executive Board held its 136th regular meeting in Leogang, Austria, with governance reforms and important competition-related decisions high on the agenda.

The Executive Board decided to establish an Ethics Commission monitoring good governance in the federation. The IBU Legal Committee is now asked to elaborate an amended Code of Ethics including a proposal on the structure of the Ethics Commission in time to be voted upon by the member federations at the IBU Congress in Porec (CRO), 5-9 September 2018.

Acting IBU Secretary-General Martin Kuchenmeister informed the Executive Board that the external audit of the IBU anti-doping program conducted by the Institute of National Anti-doping Organizations (iNADO) will commence in June, when the iNADO representatives will make their first visits to the IBU headquarters in Salzburg.

The Executive Board agreed with the Athletes Committee proposal to include an athlete representative as a member of the Board. This will be decided by the Congress in September 2018. The Executive Board further acknowledged the Athletes Committee appointment of Daniel Böhm (GER) to the IBU Technical Committee.

The Executive Board also discussed the situation of the Russian Biathlon Federation (RBU) acknowledging the election of new leaders to the RBU Board. The Executive Board respects the efforts and the new structure of the RBU. However, the decision to restore the RBU to a full member was referred to the IBU Congress 2018. The RBU was relegated to provisional membership status in December 2017 by the Executive Board.

IBU Sports Director Felix Bitterling highlighted that the preparations for the upcoming season are proceeding according to plan. The Executive Board confirmed the BMW IBU World Cup and IBU Cup calendars for the 2019/2020 season (see below) including the competition program for the IBU Biathlon World Championships in Antholz, Italy, 12-23 February 2020. Several new competition formats were approved for testing at the IBU Cup second tier event series.

For the BMW IBU World Cup the Executive Board will propose to the Congress an increase in the number of wild cards from four to eight, with a maximum of two per national federation. Similar adjustments concerning wild cards for the Olympic Winter Games will be discussed with the International Olympic Committee.

Finally, each of the six IBU Committees (Technical, Medical, Development, Athletes, Information and Legal) reported on their work following their May meetings. The IBU Executive Board further received a status report from the IBU anti-doping working group, which is composed of external experts who are continuing their investigation of material provided by WADA and advise IBU on further proceedings.

The next IBU Executive Board meeting will take place 8-10 July 2018.

© biathlonworld.com