Lamine Diack trial: ex-boss of world athletics begins to explain himself

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On the second day of the trial of the former Senegalese boss of world athletics, it was expected that Lamine Diack begins to explain himself in the early afternoon. But the hearing of his former adviser lawyer Habib Cissé ultimately occupied most of the day on Wednesday, so he only made an appearance of about thirty minutes at the bar.

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With our special correspondent at the Paris court , Laura Martel

“  The street where I grew up was halfway between the prison and the stadium. When I was very small, I chose the stadium. All that so that in November 2015 I find myself wristbands, you imagine!  Lamine Diack has a sense of formula.

The anecdotes that he multiplies to retrace his journey, from his Dakar childhood to the presidency of the International Athletics Federation , through his own performance as athletes and his thirty years at the Senegalese Olympic Committee make his story pleasant, but also rambling.

He jumps from time to time, from one of his functions to another, the president must sometimes interrupt him: "  What year is it in?"  "Lamine Diack continues, and concludes, proud of his record:"  My role was to universalize athletics, that's who I am.  "

" This sad affair "

Earlier, his co-accused and ex-legal counsel Habib Cissé, described Lamine Diack as a man who had devoted his life to sport. A president of the federation "  disinterested  " and "with  no desire for personal enrichment  " who had not corrupted himself by delaying the sanctions against suspected Russian athletes in exchange for financial advantages, but had opted "  for a non-confrontational management Russian doping cases  ”.

For Habib Cisse, despite the trial, "  this sad affair  ", in his words, the outcome of Lamine Diack remains "  positive  ". "  He has a lot to his credit, especially in the fight against doping: he did what Fifa (International Football Federation, Editor's note) did not do!  "Even said the lawyer.

It's up to Lamine Diack to convince the court this Thursday.

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