Kontiolahti in Finland will host the IBU World Cup event ©Getty Images

Kontiolahti in Finland has been announced as host of the eighth leg of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in March after the event was moved-out of Tyumen in Russia.

The Finnish resort, which also formed the location for the 2015 World Championships, will play host to the event from March 6 to 12.

This was confirmed by the IBU in a short statement posted on their website today.

Osrblie in Slovakia replaced Ostrov earlier this week as host of the IBU World Junior Championships due to take place between February 22 and March 2.

The IBU had announced the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) had “given back” the Junior World Championships and the World Cup leg after an emergency Executive Committee meeting late last month.

It follows the evidence of state-sponsored Russian doping outlined in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-commissioned McLaren Report.

IBU President Anders Besseberg had described the decision of the RBU as a “first important step to show to the IBU and to the world of sport that the current situation is taken very seriously”.

Kontiolahti in Finland also hosted the 2015 IBU World Championships ©Getty Images
Kontiolahti in Finland also hosted the 2015 IBU World Championships ©Getty Images

However, a decision has not yet been made on whether Tyumen will remain as host of the 2021 IBU World Championships, which it was awarded in September despite the International Olympic Committee (IOC) having recommended winter bodies not to allocate events to Russia.

The controversial choice of Tyumen for their flagship competition outside of the Winter Olympics has also landed the organisation in trouble with the WADA Code, which states countries who are non-compliant should not be given major events.

The IBU were given a January 14 deadline by WADA during their Foundation Board meeting in Glasgow in November to explain the reasons why they defied the Code and gave the World Championships to Russia.

Names of 31 Russian biathletes implicated in the findings of the McLaren Report have also been given to the world governing body.

Provisional suspensions were then given to Olympic silver medallist Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina after they were named as having their samples tampered with as scratch marks were found on their bottles.

However, there is no indication that the pair were deliberately taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Romanova denied she was guilty of doping in an interview with Russian news agency TASS.