MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2020) Russian diplomats are dealing with the search conducted in hotel rooms of Russian biathletes in Italy, hoping that everything will be resolved in the near future, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.
Alexei Nuzhdov, the first deputy president of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU), told Sputnik earlier in the day that searches were underway at the rooms where Russian biathletes Evgeniy Garanichev and Alexander Loginov and coach Alexander Kasperovich were staying in during a tournament. Italian police seized the team members' laptops during the searches. Later, RBU head Vladimir Drachev said that the search was connected with Kasperovich's accreditation and with Loginov's previous doping issues. Drachev also said that the Italian police might suspect Kasperovich of bringing doping to the World Cup under foreign accreditation.
"We started to deal with it right away, as soon as the first information was received. I take this opportunity to wish our athletes strong spirit. I can assure that the diplomats are working on this issue, and we hope that everything will be resolved in the near future," Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
Zakharova added that Russian diplomats in Rome contacted the Italian Foreign Ministry and the government's administration.
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin ordered to urgently request all information about the incident and the circumstances that led to it from the RBU.
The sports ministry said it was in contact with the Russian embassy in Italy and was closely monitoring the developments.
