Former President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Lamine Diack has been arrested in France. He is suspected of receiving a bribe from the All-Russian Athletics Federation for concealing doping violations

Photo: REUTERS 2015

Lamine Diack's arrest on Wednesday The AP news agency reported . French prosecutors are investigating the former head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Diack, and his former adviser, Habib Sise.

Diack and Cece are suspected of corruption related to the IAAF's anti-doping campaign, namely receiving a bribe from the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) for concealing information about anti-doping rule violations by Russian athletes.

According to investigators, officials accepted at least €200 thousand from Russian athletes, the agency notes, citing French authorities.

In addition, the former director of the IAAF anti-doping department, Gabriel Dollet, was detained in Nice. Earlier, searches were carried out at the headquarters of the international association in Monaco.

Diack headed the IAAF from November 1999 to August 2015.

Diack's arrest has already been commented on in Russia. The Secretary General of the All-Russian Athletics Federation denied the organization's involvement in corruption.

Video: RBC

“RAF as an organization has never entered into such relationships,” TASS quotes Mikhail Butov . He pointed out that it is not yet known “what exactly is indicated in French media reports and what the ARAF is accused of.” According to Butov, the IAAF did not contact ARAF regarding this situation. The international federation has not contacted ARAF regarding the investigation against Diack, the organization’s secretary general emphasized. “But if this happens, then we are ready to cooperate and help ensure that the true situation is revealed,” he emphasized.

The former president of the All-Russian Athletics Federation, Valentin Balakhnichev, also commented on the situation: “I don’t know what exactly Diack is going to be accused of. But regarding the assumption of bribery, I can report that ARAF did not transfer any money to Diack.”

“Mutual payments between ARAF and IAAF were carried out only during preparations for the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. There were no financial relations between us at any other time,” Balakhnichev told Sport-Express.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, in turn, said that Russian athletics does not face sanctions in connection with the case against the former head of the IAAF.

“A case has been filed against Diack. These are completely different things. So what if the [All-Russian Athletics Federation] is involved? This is criminal prosecution. If someone is involved in something, let them be held accountable by law if something is proven. This is not some kind of news, all the investigations have been carried out, and the ethics committee is finishing the investigation at the International Athletics Federation,” R-Sport quoted Mutko as saying.

The minister emphasized that if, as a result of the work of the WADA special commission, some people are “convicted of something,” they will be punished under sports law. “And this is criminal prosecution. These are parallel lives, we are talking about something else. Someone gave someone some kind of bribe, but what does Russian athletics have to do with it?” - said the Minister of Sports.

At the same time, Mutko called the case against Lamine Diack an “incomprehensible situation.”

“An investigation is underway. It is being conducted by an independent commission based on various allegations against the International Association of Athletics Federations. Then there are some accusations: remember, athlete Liliya Shobukhova accused the [All-Russian Athletics Federation] of paying bribes to cover up her doping cases. God knows what’s going on there,” TASS quotes Mutko as saying .

He recalled that “our federation had problems,” adding that the old leadership no longer works. “You see, there are a lot of criminal cases around the world now. And these are incomprehensible situations,” said the head of the sports department.

The ex-head of the IAAF was arrested for concealing the use of doping by Russians