The Russia-based International Club Biathlon League (ICBL) has a chance to become a competitor to the International Biathlon Union (IBU) if Arab or Chinese billionaires decide to invest in such a project, wrote the Olympic cross-country champion. Veronica Stepanova in his column on the site.
The tournament competitions will take place on November 18 and 19 in Khanty-Mansiysk. Russian and Belarusian biathletes will take part in the races; the Chinese athletes abandoned their tournament bid at the last moment due to pressure from the IBU.
— I read that the International Biathlon Union (IBU) had a negative attitude towards the idea of creating the International Club Biathlon League (ICBL) and was pressuring the Chinese not to do not come to Khanty-Mansiysk. And why am I not surprised? Who liked business competitors and when? Do you think European football bosses are happy with the arrival of Arab money?
No, of course they like money – they don’t like it when newcomers want to live by their own rules. I don’t like it when the best footballers go to Saudi Arabia. Or when the leader of the Spanish football championship is an incomprehensible “Girona”, which belongs half to a company from Abu Dhabi and the other half to the Guardiola family. Sports bosses are the same everywhere: no one wants to give up control. The only thing that can bring them down is big money and new technologies.
I sincerely wish MLCB good luck, but they will only be able to become an IBU competitor when an Arab or Chinese billionaire decides that his biathlon club is cooler than a big yacht. Or a European football team. But to convince big companies to invest, we need new technologies and new ideas on how to organize and promote competitions. Contact me, I will share yours! — wrote Stepanova.
The channel will broadcast live the races of the first Cup of the International Club Biathlon League.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
