Life ban handed down to disgraced Diack in athletics doping blackmail scandal
Son of former IAAF president Lamine Diack and two Russian officials kicked out of track and field; former anti-doping director Gabriel Dolle suspended for five years
The son of former IAAF president Lamine Diack and two Russian officials have been banned from track and field for life after an investigation into blackmail, bribery, extortion and doping cover-ups.
A fourth official, former IAAF anti-doping director Gabriel Dolle, received a five-year ban from the ethics commission of the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The life bans could not send a stronger message that those who attempt to corrupt or subvert the sport of athletics will be brought to justice
Banned for life were Papa Massata Diack, who worked as an IAAF marketing consultant; former Russian athletics federation head Valentin Balakhnichev, who was also honorary treasurer of the IAAF; and Alexei Melnikov, former coach of Russia’s race-walking and long-distance running programmes.
READ MORE: EUROPEAN ATHLETICS SUPREMO DOUBTFUL RUSSIA WILL BE READY TO COMPETE AT RIO OLYMPICS
The sanctions centred on the case of Russian marathoner Liliya Shobukhova, who was allegedly extorted out of hundreds of thousands of dollars to avoid a doping ban before the 2012 London Olympics.
Dolle was banned for five years because “his sins were those of omission, not commission”, the IAAF panel said.
The verdicts can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
