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Son of ex-IAAF president accused of urging bidding city to "offer Rolex watches"

A city bidding to stage a prestigious IAAF event was urged to offer Rolex watches, cash donations...



Son of ex-IAAF president accus...
Golf

Son of ex-IAAF president accused of urging bidding city to "offer Rolex watches"

A city bidding to stage a prestigious IAAF event was urged to offer Rolex watches, cash donations, gift packs and entertainment as part of its campaign according to Sky News.

The man at the centre of the revelations is Papa Massata Diack, son of Lamine Diack, the disgraced former president of athletics' world governing body.

Diack Jnr is already banned from athletics for life because of his role in an attempted cover-up of doping by Russian athletes, and is wanted by the French authorities on suspicion of corruption, blackmail and money laundering.

The Senegalese is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. Believed to be in Dakar, last month Senegal rejected a request for his extradition to France.

Correspondence seen by Sky News reveals that in 2004, Diack tried to secure a contract for his company PMD Consulting to lobby on behalf of German city Stuttgart, which was bidding for the 2006 IAAF Athletics World Cup.

Diack - who worked for more than a decade as a marketing consultant to the IAAF - proposed making more than €360,000 (£280,000) in cash contributions and gifts to persons of influence including IAAF Council members.

The documents - revealed on a day when Nestle became the first sponsor to officially end its relationship with the IAAF - also show he demanded a total fee of $600,000 (£415,000) should Stuttgart's bid be successful.

Stuttgart did not proceed with a deal with Diack and lost the vote for the event, which was staged by Athens.

The German city did host the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final, a two-day season-ending event, but there is no suggestion this was linked to Diack.

Diack's father, Lamine (Picture by: Martin Rickett / PA Wire/Press Association Images)

The documents reveal how Diack proposed to win over members of the IAAF Council, who would decide the venue.

In December 2004 he met with Stuttgart city officials and the German then-IAAF vice-president Helmut Digel at the Movenpick Hotel at Stuttgart Airport.

Following the meeting he set out a series of five-figure payments and gifts to athletics projects and individuals, and appeared to suggest his father, then the IAAF president, would approve.

He writes that certain payments would be considered "as priorities in the President [sic] request for donations and assistance to federations, areas, council members, athletes/coaches" before setting out a list that included:

  1. $16,800 for the High Performance Training Centre in Jamaica
  2. $35,000 for the North, Central American & Caribbean Coaches Association (NACAC)
  3. $84,900 for "building HQ" for the African Athletics Confederation (CAA)
  4. $35,000 for "administration assistance" for the South American athletics confederation CONSULDATLE
  5. $40,000 for "VIP gifts package" (valuable watches EBEL, Rolex, Mont Blanc)
  6. $25,000 for "scholarships for athletes/US universities"
  7. $78,000 for "assistance to competitions (worldwide)"
  8. $78,000 for "travel assistance (budget in AF/Delta Airlines)"

Diack also set out a travel itinerary with costs, and recommended that he set up a lobbying presence in Doha, Qatar - venue for the IAAF Council vote that would decide the 2006 IAAF World Cup host.

"Presence in Doha, Qatar for 12 nights ahead of the Council $500 daily per diem, gift packs from Al Fardan Shop and social programme in conjunction with Al Dana Club (German manager) total budget $25,000."

The total cost of Diack's proposal was €365,439, in addition to his fee of $600,000, half of which was to be paid in advance with the balance if Stuttgart was successful.

Mr Digel reported his concerns about the meeting to the IAAF's then director-general in January 2005, and wrote a letter to Diack Jnr rebuking him for "asking for money".

Last night Mr Digel told Sky News that, on the advice of the IAAF President Lord Coe, he has reported the matter to the IAAF ethics commission.

"In accordance with Lord Coe I firstly will speak about this case to the IAAF Ethics Commission," he said.

In a statement, Messe Stuttgart said it did not agree to proceed with a deal with Diack and he played no part in the success of their World Athletics Final bid.

A spokesman said: "The entry phase for the 2006 IAAF World Cup included a conversation with Papa Massata Diack. After that Papa Massata Diack sent a draft contract without our knowledge. The draft was not signed. We did not approve his proposals. Diack didn't help Stuttgart win the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final."

The IAAF said in a statement: "The IAAF was not aware of those specific attempts. Papa Massata Diack in his role as an IAAF Marketing Consultant had a responsibility to raise funds for the IAAF Continental Programme (Area Confederations) which was done through sponsorship."

NACAC president Victor Lopez said he was unaware of any proposed donation, and that it had no direct dealings with Diack. There is no suggestion any of the other named organisations were aware of Diack's proposals, but the revelations will increase scrutiny of his methods and role at the IAAF during his father's presidency.

CONSUDATLE said it was "never aware of any negotiation between Papa Diack and organisers of Athletic events".

French prosecutors are already investigating the award of every IAAF World Championship since 2009, and last month the chairman of UK Athletics Ed Warner told a parliamentary committee that he was warned of rumours that "brown envelopes" were being offered during London's successful bid against Doha to host the 2017 World Championships.

The latest revelations comes as the IAAF and Lord Coe attempt to move on from the deepest scandal in the sport's history.

The revelation of state-sponsored doping in Russia has seen its athletes banned from international competition, amid growing pressure that they also be excluded from the Rio Olympics.

Last month a World Anti-Doping Agency report set out the involvement of Diack Snr and a cabal of advisors including his son in extorting money from athletes to cover up positive drugs tests.

Diack Jnr and PMD Consulting did not respond to attempts to contact them.

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