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Lamine Diack, former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) now World Athletics (WA) will hear the verdict of the corruption charges that were levelled against him. The 87-year-old faces five charges related to the alleged cover-up of positive drug tests for Russian athletes in exchange for money.
The case was heard in June in Paris as he was extradited from Senegal. Prosecutors called for Diack to be handed a four-year prison sentence.
Papa Massata Diack claims conspiracy
Diack’s son denounced the corruption and money laundering charges against himself and his father on Monday. He said that the trial is a conspiracy by the Anglo-Saxons. It is not the first time that the Massatas played the race card.
Papa Massata Diack who refused to leave Senegal to face his own charges was speaking at a news conference in Dakar.
Diack’s father, Lamine, was president from 1999-2015. Papa Massata Diack worked under his father as a consultant at the IAAF. The two men are charged with corruption, money laundering, and breach of trust. It is alleged that the two used their positions to benefit themselves personally. For example, Papa Massata apparently took $500,000 – $600,000 USD to approve the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships.
Prosecutors allege that Lamine extorted $3.9 million in bribes from athletes. It is also alleged that he used his authority to enable his son, who he employed as a marketing consultant, to siphon off millions of dollars from sponsorship deals.
On Monday, Papa Massata Diack made accusations that the trial was held without him, yet, like his son, he had refused to attend the proceedings having fled to Senegal in 2015 as charges were levelled. Senegal declined to extradite him after an international arrest warrant. He attended the trial and testified. His son was tried in his absence. They both deny the charges.
“I refused to come to the French courts because they lacked impartiality,” Papa Massata Diack said. “To submit to French justice is to put myself at the disposal of my enemies.”
