THE FORMER HEAD of global athletics, Lamine Diack, was on Wednesday found guilty by a French court of corruption in covering up Russian doping cases and sentenced to four years in prison, of which two years were suspended.
Diack was found guilty of soliciting $4.1 million (3.45 million euros) from athletes suspected of doping to cover up the allegations and allow them to continue competing, including at the 2012 London Olympics.
He was fined €500,000 ($600,000) by the French Court. He has the right to appeal.
Diack and his son Papa Massata have also been ordered to pay World Athletics $5.93 million (€5m) in damages.
The sport’s governing body thanked the prosecutors for their work and promised to invest the money awarded into the global development of athletics.
“Whilst we are disappointed this happened in our sport, we are grateful for the strong and clear decisions that have been taken against the individuals involved and charged with these crimes, and we would like to reassure everyone that the reforms our Congress approved in 2016 will ensure that similar actions by individuals can never happen again in our sport,” read a statement from World Athletics issued Wednesday.
