WADA Report: Corrupt IAAF Covered Up Russian Doping In Track And Field

“If, therefore, the circle of knowledge was so extensive why was nothing done?”

This is the second, and final, part of an investigation conducted by a World Anti-Doping Agency Independent Commission which was headed by former Wada president Dick Pound.

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.

Former president Lamine Diack, Coe’s predecessor, orchestrated the corruption by creating “an informal illegitimate governance structure”, sanctioning the extortion of athletes, and the organisation had inadequate procedures in place to prevent that corruption.

Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe is confident IAAF president Sebastian Coe can get athletics back on track after the latest revelations over doping rocked the sport.

“There is an enormous amount of reputational recovery, and I can think of no one better than Lord Coe to lead that”.

IAAF president Lord Coe is under increasing pressure after a new report claimed “corruption was embedded” within his organisation.

Pound said the the IAAF governing council, which included Coe, had to be aware of the corruption.

Joseph de Pencier, the CEO of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations, called the report “absolutely stomach-turning”, and said Pound’s conclusions were not necessarily the last word on the IAAF. Coe had been IAAF vice-president from 2007.

Another commission member Richard McClaren said the named runners who had been blackmailed, including the 2010 London marathon victor Liliya Shobukhova, may only be “the tip of the iceberg with respect to athletes who have been extorted”.

In delivering the findings Thursday, Mr. Pound described a system of corruption that touched almost every top official at the federation but said he was convinced Mr. Coe was in the dark on the details of the corruption.

It said it was “completely improper governance” to allow supervision of suspected Russian doping cases to be separately managed by the IAAF President’s personal legal counsel.

Coe told Reuters he agreed that the IAAF Council should have been more aware of what was happening, but added: “Were they in a position to know more? No”. A taskforce was sent by athletics’ governing body to visit Russian Federation earlier this week as the country looks to prove it has the sufficient measures in place to return to worldwide athletics.

“As far as the ability of Lord Coe to remain as head of the IAAF, I think it’s a fabulous opportunity for the IAAF to seize this opportunity and, under strong leadership, to move forward”, Pound said.

Mr Balakhnichev said there was no point in waiting for a fair decision from WADA and IAAF, R-Sport news agency reported. He recommended that more investigation was needed on those suspicions. According to its website, Interpol has also posted a wanted person’s alert for Papa Massata Diack, Mr. Diack’s son who had served as a marketing consultant to the IAAF.

The WADA commission also investigated a leaked database of athlete blood tests, which the Sunday Times had alleged contained suspicious results that the IAAF did not properly investigate.