Paris (AFP)

Behind the track to the stars, suspected doping and bribes: the Paris court judges from Monday the former ousted boss of world athletics, Lamine Diack, prosecuted with five other alleged actors of a system of corruption dedicated to protecting doped Russian athletes.

The affair, which broke out in November 2015 with the arrest of the Senegalese in Paris, unfolded in a sprawling fashion, leading to several other sulfurous files which tarnished the image of sport: since 2016, Russia has been accused institutional doping on a large scale and the French justice system is now also seized with suspicions of corruption in the attribution of the Olympic Games in Rio-2016 and Tokyo-2020.

At 86, the former boss of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF, 1999-2015), banned from leaving French territory, risks in theory up to ten years in prison and a heavy fine for active and passive corruption, breach of trust and laundering in organized gangs. Alongside him, one of his former advisers, lawyer Habib Cissé, and the former head of the IAAF anti-doping service, Gabriel Dollé, will be tried for passive bribery.

However, French justice has never been able to approach one of the key players in the case, the former powerful marketing advisor of the IAAF, the son of Lamine Diack, Papa Massata, who has taken refuge in Dakar since the beginning of investigation. Judged in his absence, "PMD" nevertheless intends to defend himself via his lawyers at the hearings, which will be spread over two weeks.

Two other protagonists will miss the appeal before the 32nd correctional chamber of the court: the former president of the Russian athletics federation, Valentin Balakhnitchev, and the former national trainer of the long distance races, Alexei Melnikov, suspected of having racked sums to seven athletes in exchange for their protection against sanctions, for a total estimated at 3.45 million euros. Facts that the court also accuses Lamine Diack.

- Organic passport -

The business started in the early 2010s, with the arrival of a new weapon in anti-doping, the biological passport, which can detect suspicious blood variations. The tool is conclusive and in November 2011, a list of 23 suspected Russians was established.

At the same time, Lamine Diack, Habib Cissé and Papa Massata Diack are increasing their trips to Moscow and the disciplinary files will drag on, allowing several athletes to participate in the London 2012 Olympics, and for some to be medalists, like Sergey Kirdyapkin (gold at 50 km walk), Olga Kaniskina (silver at 20 km walk) or Yuliya Zaripova (gold at 3,000 m steeplechase). Their titles were withdrawn years later for doping.

During the investigation, Lamine Diack acknowledged that the sanctions were staggered in time to avoid sinking the image of Russia, on the background of negotiations on TV rights and the sponsorship of the state bank VTB for the World Championships. of Moscow in 2013.

"It was necessary to postpone the suspension of Russian athletes to obtain the VTB contract," he said in particular.

Lamine Diack also conceded that he had obtained 1.5 million euros from Russia to campaign in 2012 in the Senegalese presidential campaign against the outgoing Abdoulaye Wade.

- "Concomitance" -

But his lawyers point out that the Russian athletes were finally punished well (most in 2014) and that Lamine Diack sought above all to save the IAAF from the financial rout. They refute any link between the diplomatic game of Moscow in Africa and sports records. "Concomitance does not mean compensation," assure AFP William Bourdon and Simon Ndiaye, who will plead for release.

The investigation found the trace of a transfer of 300,000 euros, from an account in Singapore associated with Papa Massata Diack, in favor of the marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova, as a "reimbursement" after her suspension in 2014. For six other identified athletes, their names and the sums appear on notes seized from Habib Cisse, but the investigators did not find any trace of bank transfers.

Lamine Diack will also be tried for allowing her son to appropriate large sums in negotiations with the sponsors, either by taxing his companies as intermediaries, or by taking "exorbitant" commissions. The investigation did not assess an amount, but the IAAF, chaired by Sebastian Coe, claims 24.6 million euros in damages from defendants on this aspect, out of a total loss estimated at 41 million euros. . The trial starts at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

© 2020 AFP