The sentence fell this Thursday: the Norwegian prosecutor’s office requested 3 years and 7 months in prison against Anders Besseberg. The Norwegian, aged 77, chaired the International Biathlon Federation (IBU) from 1993 to 2018. He was found guilty of aggravated corruption.
Marthe Stømner Smestad, one of the prosecutors, called for firmness on the last day of the trial: “For the purposes of prevention, corruption must be treated particularly harshly in such positions within a great organization. » After five weeks of trial, the prosecution rendered a verdict to this effect.
The prosecution questioned the favors received by Anders Besseberg from Russian officials between 2009 and 2018. The Norwegian was allegedly offered three watches worth more than 30,000 euros, deer hunting trips and to wild boar, but also the services of prostitutes. The former IBU president admitted to having received certain gifts, but he denies any form of corruption.
His successor at the head of the international body, the Swede Olle Dahlin, launched the commission of inquiry against him. Anders Besseberg would have used his status to favor the attribution of the 2021 Worlds to the Russian city of Tyumen, in Siberia.
The Norwegian headed the IBU when the institutionalized doping scandal of Russian athletes was revealed. He was initially suspected of having been corrupted in order to hide certain cases. But this part of the charges was dropped during the legal proceedings. He resigned from his position at the IBU in 2018, when the first accusations of corruption were launched.
