The Lamine Diack case, symbol of a troubled time for the governance of world sport

Text by: Hugo Moissonnier

Lamine Diack's trial is scheduled to begin in Paris today. The former president of the International Athletics Federation is suspected of having implemented a system of large-scale corruption in the early 2010s. Against the backdrop: large-scale doping in Russia, a scandal that l the former Senegalese sports leader would have helped to cover.

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The protection of twenty or so athletes from Putin's country in exchange for juicy bribes: this is a quick summary of the Diack affair (read below), itself at the origin of the revelations on institutional doping set up in Russia which have shaken world sport.

To understand the trial of the Senegalese leader, it is necessary to dive into a certain context. A few years ago, Vladimir Putin bet on sport and in particular on the organization of competitions such as the 2018 Football World Cup, the Winter Olympics 2014 or the World Athletics Championships in 2013.

But the Russian president not only wanted to host the events, he also wanted to see his athletes shine on the slopes reminds us Lukas Aubin, geopolitics researcher, specialist in Russia and sport: "  To understand the context of the Lamine case Diack, we must return in 2000. When Vladimir Putin comes to power, he begins a gigantic ballet of seduction in order to obtain the biggest sporting events on the planet: Sochi Games 2014, World Cup 2018 ... This strategy works! The idea is also to win the competitions. From there, there is going to be a massive doping process. So here we are dealing with a politicization of international sport through Vladimir Putin.  "

Revealing the generosity of sports governance of an era

Faced with Russian ambitions, the limits of governance, that of Lamine Diack, seem to have been revealed. The Senegalese would have privileged political or private interests to the detriment of the interests of sport. In the case tried in Paris, money would have been used to interfere in Senegalese elections in 2012. His patronage is also pointed out, his son Papa Massata Diack also being one of the accused.

Lamine Diack, former mayor of Dakar and president of the International Athletics Federation from 1999 to 2015, has just celebrated his 87th birthday and he belongs to an old generation of sports leaders with a sometimes sulphurous reputation.

According to Pim Verschuuren, doctoral student at the University of Lausanne and specializing in the governance and integrity of world sport, the path of the former athlete echoes that of Sepp Blatter, ex-boss of Fifa, also swept away by a corruption scandal five years ago: “  The facts alleged against Lamine Diack suggest that this leader was operating with total impunity. The case seems to reveal the generosity of sports governance at the time and the profile of Lamine Diack effectively recalls that of other leaders like Sepp Blatter. Not only did these presidents have little scruples in the way they manage their federations, but the internal control structures within these bodies were not up to par or in any case very far from the standards of multinationals and administrations public.  "

What sport has become

"The Diack affair" therefore questions the functioning of sports institutions over the past decades, between the absence of control by managers and the difficulty for these bodies to position themselves in relation to the interests of different countries, explains Jean-Baptiste Guégan, author of the book Geopolitics of sport: another explanation from the world : “  The first thing is that in the years 1980-1990, the international sports movement believed itself beyond the States. They really believed that they were escaping from the great geopolitical game. While taking advantage of it! In short, they may have seen themselves too strong. The Lamine Diack affair not only shows what sport has become, that is to say a real economy, but it also shows, in return, the fragility of bodies that ultimately thought themselves above the law. And which were first overtaken by the people who were at their head and then by the laws of the countries and the balance of power.  "

In recent years, measures to improve the governance of world sport have been adopted in various sports bodies. No more separation of powers, more internal control ... but it is still too early to really measure their effectiveness.

The trial: a reminder of the facts

In 2011, Russia feared for its image: 23 of its athletes were suspected of doping, while the Olympics of 2012 and especially the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow are looming. The IAAF lacks cash. It is in this context that Lamine Diack would have reached an agreement with Valentin Balakhnitchev, then president of the Russian Athletics Federation and treasurer of the IAAF: delay the sanctions against these athletes in return for an agreement on sponsorship contracts and dissemination of the Worlds with Russian companies. The Senegalese leader also allegedly obtained that Russia pay 1.5 million euros to support the opposition to Abdoulaye Wade during the 2012 electoral campaigns.

His lawyers are now dismissing all the charges against him.

Simon Ndiaye, one of Lamine Diack's lawyers, denounces a certain hypocrisy from the IAAF.

Laura Martel

But Lamine Diack, according to the order for reference, recognized before the investigators the existence of an agreement; investigators who accuse his son, Papa Massata Diack, then IAAF marketing advisor, of having played a "  central role  " in this system of corruption, helped by the lawyer Habib Cissé, ex-advisor to Lamine Diack. Papa Massata Diack will be tried in his absence, as will Valentin Balakhnitchev and Alexei Melnikov, a former Russian trainer.

These five men are also being prosecuted for extracting large sums from athletes in exchange for protection against sanctions. In a final installment, Lamine Diack is also accused of having allowed his son to appropriate millions of euros in IAAF revenue on contracts with sponsors. The IAAF which claims more than 40 million from the accused.

the President of Monaco Regis Bergonzi gives some details on the repairs he intends to claim.

Laura Martel

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