As the Biathlon World Cup kicked off, the Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) reserved the right to impose a new sanction on Julia Simon or to make it worse. She did not consider it necessary and the Frenchwoman, suspended for one month in the bank card fraud case, will be able to start her season at Hochfilzen next month.
Suspended in connection with the bank card fraud affair, Julia Simon (29) will miss the start of the Biathlon World Cup this weekend in Östersund (Sweden). The Savoyarde will, however, be able to start her season from the 2nd stage of winter, next month (December 12 to 14) in Hochfilzen (Austria).
If it reserved the right to impose a new sanction on the winner of the big crystal globe in 2023 or to increase her punishment, the Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU), the anti-doping body of the IBU, finally considered that the six-month suspension, five of which were suspended, decided by the French Ski Federation (FFS) to sanction the ten-time world champion was sufficient.
And so there was no need to add even more complexity to the bill: Simon was also sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros by the Albertville criminal court.
Considering the sanction of the French biathlete “in accordance with national rules”, the BIU assured that it “(would) not initiate a separate procedure under the IBU integrity code in this matter”.
The BIU will keep an eye on the Blues…
The file, open for three years, is therefore definitively closed and the French camp, violently shaken by this affair, will be able to “get back to work calmly”, as desired by Les Bleues coach Cyril Burdet, who made no secret of it during the last gathering of his group as part of the final adjustments, very recently in Bessans (Savoie).
Hoping that the Biathlon Integration Unit will not decide to reopen the file one day. After drawing conclusions from the Simon affair, the body clarified that it would follow the course of events very closely.
“The BIU will continue to monitor developments within the team and stands ready to intervene if new information falling within its jurisdiction emerges.” For the moment, this is not the case and Simon will be able to become a competitor again in two weeks.
