Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Swedes Threatened after Russian Doping

After the drama over the Russian doping scandal, the International Biathlon Union is dealing with threats received by the Swedish biathlon team.

According to the Swedish team's coach Staffan Eklund, the threats may be coming from Russia. (The domain name in the addresses which the e-mails were sent from is the Russian '.ru'.)

Eklund said that the threats are probably coming in response to Sweden's anti-doping stance.

Mattias Nilsson and Bjorn Ferry began receiving threats via e-mail around the time the Russians tested at the World Cup event in January, Eklund told the Associated Press.

The e-mails, which Eklund believes were from angry Russian fans, did not specifically mention the doping, but contained phrases like "We're going to kick your a--," and "I hope you die of cancer", according to the Associated Press.

The biathlon season ends with a race at the Russian resort Khanty-Mansiysk. While the Swedish team still plans to attend, Eklund said that he wants security guarantees for his athletes.

The Swedish team is currently gathering the e-mails to present to the IBU executive board.

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