Kazakhstan denies doping after police raid biathlon team

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s government has denied its national biathlon team has been doping after Austrian police raided the team’s hotel and seized medical equipment.

Elsiyar Kanagatov, who chairs the government’s Sports and Fitness Committee, has told local media “all the medicine which our team has is not banned,” and has accused an unnamed team doctor of “negligence” for failing to properly dispose of used items.

Police say they seized medical equipment, drugs and mobile phones late Wednesday, the day before the biathlon world championships began in Austria, and are investigating whether anti-doping laws have been broken.

Police had been preparing the raid since a cardboard box was found at a nearby fuel station last month. The box contained used medical equipment including needles, infusions and ampules, and accreditations to major biathlon events.