IBU Executive Board receives encouraging updates on ongoing reform process

The IBU Executive Board met in Vienna to discuss the latest progress that has been made in its mission to reform and enhance the federation across key governance and operational areas.

The IBU Executive Board, under the leadership of IBU President Olle Dahlin, has established a number of reviews and Commissions tasked with determining ways the IBU can strengthen its good governance policies and implement more robust anti-doping structures. During the meeting, the Executive Board received updates from each of these reform groups and discussed the plans for the months ahead.

IBU President Olle Dahlin said:

"We were greatly encouraged by the updates we received and the progress that has been made in reforming the IBU. We know there is a long way to go but we are on the right track. We are looking forward to receiving the recommendations of the ongoing reviews so that we can implement reforms that will benefit our athletes, our fans and all our stakeholders and put the IBU in a stronger position than ever before."

During the meeting, the External Review Commission (ERC), which is conducting a full investigation into all historic anti-doping, compliance, ethical and disciplinary matters, provided an update report on the progress that has been made since the last Board meeting. The Commission has taken a number of steps to advance its work including: reviewing the applicable rules and legislation to determine where violations have occurred; continuing to engage with the criminal authorities; cooperating with WADA; opening communications with RUSADA; gathering further written evidence; and obtaining copies and reviewing relevant reports and video footage. The latest ERC interim report can be found here.

An update on the status of the development of the IBU’s first ever Strategic Plan which will incorporate input from all IBU stakeholders and help guide the sport’s future was also presented. Focus Group meetings with Athletes, Coaches, National Federations, Committee Members, Staff Members, Technical Delegates, Organising Committees and External Partners were held earlier this month to provide them with a forum to voice the opportunities and challenges they face. A large number of athletes were involved in both the Focus Group meetings and questionnaires, which were sent to stakeholders by the IBU in December 2018, and the Strategic Plan is now being developed.

Reports on the Constitutional review and review of the IBU Rules were also received by the Executive Board. The purpose of these reviews is to ensure that the Constitution and IBU Rules are aligned with international best practice. The Executive Board agreed the schedule and process for the reviews so that they will be ready to be considered for approval by the Extraordinary IBU Congress in September 2019.

The Chair of the Independent IBU Anti-Doping Working Group made a presentation and updated on the 13 cases at the Anti-Doping Hearing Panel. The Chair expressed his satisfaction about WADA’s retrieval of the LIMS data from the Moscow Laboratory and stated his hope that the data will be received quickly by the IBU once the authentication process has been completed.

The RBU Working Group also provided an update, confirming that the RBU have accepted the IBU’s criteria and that fruitful dialogue between both sides will continue. The next meeting of the IBU/RBU Working Group is scheduled to be held at the end of February 2019 in Moscow.

The next Executive Board meeting will be held in Östersund, Sweden, on 11 March 2019 during the IBU World Championships Biathlon.

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