COE FACING A LET DOWN BY THE “SPIRITUAL LEADER”

Photo: Current IAAF President Lord Sebastien Coe and former leader Lamine Diack (Getty Images)

Former President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Lamine Diack,wherever he is today, is probably being haunted by his own proclamations made in February this year.

A German documentary in December 2014 brought to the fore some of the miriad of corruption secrecy and doping cover ups and Diack speaking a conference then was quoted as saying, “It’s a difficult crisis but we will put it behind us by cleaning all this.”

In his first interview on the matter and in response to the documentary which claimed Russian officials systematically accepted payment from athletes to supply banned substances and cover up tests, Diack said he was “shocked” and “disturbed” when he first heard the claims.

The Senegalese official was also in defence of Russia,in saying that the allegations that 99% of Russian athletes are doping were “a joke” and “ridiculous”.
“I cannot accept that somebody came and said in Russia it’s 99% cheating. It’s not true,” he said.

He demitted office in August, passing the baton to now president Lorde Sebastian Coe, a man who held him in high esteem.

Coe referred to Diack then as a ‘spiritual’ leader; a vote of confidence, trusting the governance of one of world’s top sporting association.

Three months down the road, and more allegations have surfaced and at the centre is the former boss.

‘These are dark days for our sport, but I’m more determined than ever to rebuild the trust in our sport. It is not going to be a short journey.But this is a long road to redemption,’ Coe said.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) publish its independent report into allegations of widespread doping among Russian athletes on Monday.

Coe, weeks before the WADA release insisted he was not aware of any allegations against Diack until he was arrested and is now being investigated by French authorities.

Coe might a prophet, because the dark days for athletics, for which he spoke about, is seemingly right on his doorstep.

There is now left for him, the daunting task of reclaiming the “clean” image, which he believed the spiritual leader had upheld for track and field.