The IBU Executive Board (EB) today announced following its meeting in Salzburg, Austria, that IBU Secretary General Niklas Carlsson will be stepping down from his position but supporting the organisation until the end of September.

The IBU EB thanked Carlsson for his service to the sport and confirmed that the recruitment process for a new Secretary General has begun.

IBU President Olle Dahlin said:

“We are disappointed to see Niklas go but we are grateful for all he has done for the IBU and we wish him well in his new role. Niklas has led the IBU headquarters excellently over the last three years and played a key role in overseeing the implementation of Target 26. Thanks to the work we have all done together, Niklas leaves the IBU with a very strong foundation from which we can grow further and realise our huge potential.”

Carlsson said:

“I have had an amazing three years at the IBU and working under the leadership of the IBU President and Executive Board we have been able to achieve a great deal. I have no doubt the IBU will continue to make great progress and reinforce its position as a leading winter IF. I am proud of what we have achieved together but felt it was time to pass over to someone new and try a new challenge. However, I will still have a very important role to play, as a loyal and committed fan of our fantastic sport of biathlon.”

Daniel Böhm was appointed as the IBU Sports and Event Director starting immediately.

Carlsson said:

“Daniel has done a great job as Sports Manager and it feels natural to appoint him in one of the organisations most important positions”.

During the meeting, the EB also received applications for the BMW IBU World Championships Biathlon 2027 from Kontiolahti (Finland) and Otepaeae (Estonia). An IBU Evaluation Commission will travel to both venues in June and report on the feasibility of holding the IBU’s flagship event there. The EB will then propose its preferred bidder to the Congress for approval.

Following proposals from the Technical Committee, IBU’s rule-making body, significant changes to the IBU’s Event and Competition Rules concerning the calculation of the World Cup Total Score were made by the EB. The following rules will come into effect from season 2022/2023 onwards:

• the IBU World Championships will no longer be included in the World Cup Total Score. Thus, there are no more World Cup points collected at World Championship events. This is in line with IBU’s general direction to make the World Championships a stand-alone flagship event

• there will be no more dropped results in the World Cup Total Score. Every competition in the World Cup will count toward the Total Score

• the point system for the Total Score and the Discipline Scores will be adjusted to increase the value between the top results ensuring that if athletes are forced to miss a race due to sickness they will still have the possibility of being able to win the Crystal Globes

• prize money for the BMW IBU World Cup and IBU Cup will be adjusted in a way to widen up the group of recipients in the first stage until 2024 and to increase the amount for top results in a second stage from 2024-26

After receiving an update from the IBU Fluor Working Group, the EB reaffirmed its commitment to a full ban of ski preparation products containing fluor at all its event series based on the apparent health risks and environmental concerns. At the same time, fair competitions with a level playing field for all athletes and teams must be guaranteed at all times through a reliable testing method. The IBU will conduct another testing session of the fluor tracking device in July in cooperation with its national federations. After this session, a final EB decision on the implementation of the fluor ban for next season will be taken.

It was also confirmed that the IBU Athletes’ Committee has appointed former World Champion and three-time winner of the World Cup Total Score, Kaisa Makarainen (FIN), as its fifth member and as the Athletes’ representative in the Technical Committee.

The EB decided on the participation bonus for National Federations and agreed to pay a first instalment of financial support as part of their 250.000 Euro support programme for Ukrainian biathlon.

Updates were received by the joint IBU and RBU Criteria Follow-up Working Group and the Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) Board. Moreover, the EB heard reports from the Secretary-General and the department heads on the implementation of Target 26.

The current Executive Board will hold one final meeting the day before the Ordinary IBU Congress in Salzburg (15-18 September 2022), at which elections are scheduled for the Presidency, Executive Board and the Technical Committee.

Candidates will be announced as soon as the vetting process, which includes video interviews with all candidates for Presidency and Executive Board membership, has been conducted by the BIU.