Russian Foreign Ministry is working on protection of Russian biathletes from psychological pressure in connection with searches at the hotel hosting Russian national team at the World Cup in Italy, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“I would like to draw attention to the fact that our first priority is to return sports to being sports, to protect athletes from psychological pressure,” she said on the Russia-24 television channel.
According to her, despite the importance of legal issues, all measures must be taken to ensure that athletes are able to continue to participate in competitions.
Representative of the Russian diplomatic service noted that the Russian Foreign Ministry is cooperating with the Russian Ministry of Sports on this issue. “We hope that everything will be resolved in the near future,” she noted.
Earlier, RT reported that Alexander Loginov, who broke a 12-year losing streak for Russian male biathletes by winning gold at the IBU World Championships, has been subjected to a search by Italian police hours before a Saturday event.
The search warrant served by police in Rasen-Antholz in South Tyrol, Italy where the competition is taking place targets Loginov and Russian team coach Alexander Kasperovich.
Loginov told media that the investigators are acting on a tip from an official from the International Biathlon Union. His phone and laptop were seized during the search.
