Former IAAF president Diack accepts delaying Russian doping case probe

Former president of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) Lamine Diack arrives at the Paris courthouse, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. A sweeping sports corruption trial opened Monday in Paris involving allegations of a massive doping cover-up that reached to the top of world track and field's governing body. Lamine Diack, 87, who served as president of the body for nearly 16 years, is among those accused of receiving money from Russian athletes to hide their suspected doping so they could compete at the Olympics in 2012 and other competitions. [AP Photo/Thibault Camus]

The former head of global track and field, Lamine Diack, told his corruption trial yesterday said he had agreed to delay and stagger investigations into suspected Russian doping cases for the sake of the sport's "financial health".

Diack, who in 16 years at the head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), was one of the most powerful leaders in Olympic sport, told a court in Paris he had taken the decision to delay bans after 23 Russian athletes failed tests.