The senior athletics officials accused of extorting €450,000 (£330,000) from the Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova to cover up her doping violations will face the possibility of life bans from the sport when a three-day disciplinary hearing into their conduct begins on Wednesday.
Those facing sanctions from the International Association of Athletics Federation’s independent ethics commission include Gabriel Dollé, the most senior anti-doping official at athletics’ governing body until last year, and Papa Massata Diack, the son of the former IAAF president Lamine Diack. Also facing sanctions for their alleged involvement in helping Shobukhova avoid punishment despite suspicious blood samples are Valentin Balakhnichev, formerly the president of the All-Russia Athletics Federation and treasurer of the IAAF, and the senior Russian endurance coach Alexei Melnikov.
A fifth unnamed person is also facing disciplinary charges. Those accused are not expected to attend the private hearing in person but legal representatives will be able to make their case on their behalf. The ethics commission chairman, Michael Beloff QC, is aware of the interest in the case and is not expected to announce his findings or publish his report into the allegations until the new year.
Shobukhova, a London and Chicago marathon winner, was the second fastest female athlete in history over 26.2 miles behind Paula Radcliffe until she was banned in 2014. Before then she was allowed to compete at the London 2012 Olympics despite anomalies in her blood passport after allegedly paying €150,000 to Russian officials on three separate occasions that year.
Those payments came to light in April 2014 when Beloff received a sworn deposition alleging corruption at the highest level of athletics’ governing body. According to the document, which was signed by Shobukhova’s agent, Andrei Baranov, and included testimony from an IAAF whistleblower, Dollé, Diack Jr, Balakhnichev and Melnikov were involved – with Shobukhova alleged to have paid Melnikov. They have all denied any wrongdoing.
A separate report into corruption at the IAAF, by an World-Anti-Doping Agency independent commission led by Dick Pound, will publish its findings in Munich on 14 January. Pound has already warned: “When we release this information to the world there will be a wow factor. I think people will say: ‘How on earth could this happen?’ It’s a complete betrayal of what the people in charge of the sport should be doing.”
French prosecutors are, meanwhile, investigating several former IAAF officials, including Sebastian Coe’s predecessor as president, Lamine Diack. According to the national financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette, investigators believe Diack earned “more than €1m” by ignoring the activities of Papa Massata Diack, despite being warned several times.
Last month Lamine Diack was placed under investigation by French police on preliminary charges of corruption and money laundering. His former legal adviser Habib Cissé was also detained and charged with corruption, as was Dollé. Diack Jr, employed by his father as a consultant for the IAAF, was not arrested because he had not travelled to France as planned. His whereabouts is currently unknown.
According to Houlette: “What is certain is that Mr Cissé, the legal adviser to Mr Diack, travelled to Russia and gave to the Russian federation the list of Russian athletes suspected of doping and, in exchange for sums of money, these athletes weren’t sanctioned.”
Source:Guardian
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