French police raided the International Association of Athletics Federation(IAAF) headquarters in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on Tuesday in search of evidence that former president LamineDiackacceptedbribes to cover up positive doping tests, . Diack,who was replaced in August, has been placed under criminal investigation for allegedly accepting $220,000 from the Russian Athletics Federation. Habib Cisse, legal adviser to Diack, is also under investigation for corruption, and Gabriel Dolle, the IAAF’s former director of anti-doping, was taken into police custody in Nice, France.
According to a statement issued by anIAAF representative, the world governing body for track and field is “fully cooperating with all investigations as it has been from the beginning of the process,”as reported by the AP.
The investigation is allegedly based on information supplied to the French police in August by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA).(WADAis also currently investigating claims made by German TV network ARD in a three-part documentary, which aired in December, on widespread Russian doping.) The thatthe money was related to marathoner Liliya Shobukhova, who claimed in August to havespent $600,000 to cover up her test results.
“God knows what’s going on [in the IAAF],”Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutkotold Russian news agencyTass, as reported by the AP. “We’ve already said that our federation had problems. The old management isn’t working there anymore.”