The commission said it was authorized to investigate bribery and extortion related to Russian Federation, but added that it was likely the “tip of the iceberg” of athletes in other countries who were also extorted by IAAF officials to cover up positive drug tests.
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“Russia has to change conduct and it’s going to be verified”, said Dick Pound, chairman of the three-person commission that prepared the report, at a news conference in Germany.
Coe came out relatively unscathed from the second part of an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) report on doping and corruption in athletics yesterday.
Dick Pound, the former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has backed under-fire IAAF president Sebastian Coe, stating that there is no one better to lead the athletics governing body back on track.
Russian Federation remains suspended from global athletics following the revelations of the first part of the WADA commission report in November.
Eventually, the report says, none of the nine athletes competed in Moscow, but their cases were not further pursued by the IAAF. “The corruption was embedded in the organisation”. “It can not be ignored or dismissed as attributable to the odd renegade acting on his own”, it said. Note: KD references Khalil Diack, son of former International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and IAAF President Lamine Diack (LD).
The inner circle included Diack’s son and personal lawyer Habib Cisse, who functioned as a “powerful rogue group”. Interpol said it had issued an worldwide wanted notice for Massata Diack.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko also told R-Sport: “This document is mainly about corruption in the IAAF, it does not particularly concern Russia”.
“The IAAF has shown no appetite to stamp out corruption”, Pound said.
Pound has previously said there was plenty of time for the Russian track team to comply with a long list of IAAF demands and be reinstated before the games in August.
Professor Richard McLaren, a WADA member and legal counsel, said: “Certain individuals within the IAAF went beyond sporting corruption and (it) may have been criminal corruption”. “I’d say he did not lie”, Pound said.
– Pound said he does not believe Coe “had the faintest” idea of the cover-ups that are alleged to have taken place and stated that he “can’t think of anyone better” to lead the IAAF’s “reputational recovery”. They must have known of the nepotism that allowed Lamine Diack to turn the International Association of Athletics Federations into a personal fiefdom during his 16-year reign as president, it said.
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“I was very open with him and said I was very grateful for the work he has done and I really hoped that he did not think that me or the organisation was in denial about this. We need more governance in place and I will put it in place so future presidents and future councils have proper accountability and can challenge and be challenged”. Eugene, Oregon, was awarded the 2021 IAAF World Championships bid while Diack was still president. “All potential conflicts of interest be declared and special attention paid to such declarations”. WADA’s investigators called for a detailed follow-up probe of all world championships awarded by the ruling body for 2009-19, due to evidence they found of possible wrongdoing. It involved the director of the medical and anti-doping department of the IAAF.
