Russia's World Cup Biathlon event in the Siberian city of Tyumen is facing a mass walkout by teams unhappy with the country's response to its doping scandal.
The Czech national team announced on Tuesday that it would not be taking part in the event, followed by the British Biathlon Union (BBU) on Wednesday.
In a statement on its website, the BBU labelled Russian athletes as “brain-washed, deluded and dishonest” for insisting that the doping scandal centered on politics rather than sport.
“Many of the results from Sochi must be regarded as 'a joke,'” the BBU claimed.
Read more from The Moscow Times: A deeper look at Russia's doping scandal
The statement also said that the Norwegian team, one of the powerhouses on international biathlon, could boycott the competition if the event was not moved. Norway has not yet confirmed the claims.
The Biathalon World Cup is spread over nine events between November and March. The Tyumen event was planned as the 8th stage of the competition between March 6 and March 12.
The International Biathlon Union (IBU) is holding an emergency meeting on Thursday to address teams' concerns about the event, the BBU said.
An independent investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) revealed earlier in December that more than a thousand Russian athletes were connected with the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Investigators also found evidence that 12 Russian athletes who won medals at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi had substituted their drug test samples.
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