Russia stripped of hosting 2021 Biathlon World Championships

The Russian Biathlon Union has pulled out of hosting the 2017 Junior World Championships

The Russian city of Tyumen in Siberia has been stripped of hosting the 2021 Biathlon World Championships.

The decision by the International Biathlon Union (IBU) comes in the wake of the McLaren report, which documented widespread state-sponsored doping in Russia.

A total of 31 cases involving Russian biathletes were mentioned in the report, but 22 were later cleared.

A new host for the event will be chosen next year.

"The executive committee invites Russia to cede its right to host the 2021 World Championships," said an IBU statement, adding it would strip Tyumen of hosting rights itself if Russia failed to take the initiative.

However, despite a petition signed by more than 150 biathletes and coaches last month, the IBU says it is not immediately tightening its anti-doping regulations.

It will set up a working group to study the suggestions made in the petition, which included longer bans of up to eight years, higher fines of up to $1m (£798,000), and the reduction of start places for national federations whose athletes have been caught doping.