Lamine Diack, photo by PhotoRun.net
FRANKFURT (GER): IOC President Thomas Bach criticised former IAAF President Lamine Diack for bringing athletics “into the abyss”, reports AP. “It is really incomprehensible that the president of an international federation demands money from athletes to manipulate results of doping tests. That is really a look into the abyss,” he said.
Editor’s note: The abyss gets deeper and deeper. The sport Diack purported to love, he has left seriously injured. The issue that I have is this: common sense would suggest that the extortion was known only at the highest levels of the Diack group. The more people who know, the more there is the chance for a leak, for someone to get jealous and spill the proverbial beans.
The sleepy IAAF that was founded in 1912 in Stockholm existed until the mid 1970s. By the time of Primo Nebiolo, the Federation and the world of sport changed. Under Nebiolo, there was huge growth and finally, money. Money did corrupt.
Under Diack, the corruption became its own industry.
The sport he was elected to protect, Lamine Diack has used for his retirement fund.
That is more than a journey into the abyss.
It is a sin against the sport.
