Former World Athletics chief Diack dies at 88

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Former head of world athletics' governing body Lamine Diack died on Friday. He was 88.

In a condolence message on Twitter, Senegalese President Macky Sall said that with the death of Diack, Senegal lost "one of its most illustrious sons."

Sall added that Diack, who was a famous sports figure, an ex-mayor of Dakar and a former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), was a "man of great dimension."

IAAF is the former name of the World Athletics, and Diack served as IAAF president from 1999 to 2015.

Diack left his World Athletics role in November 2015 following allegations that he accepted bribes to cover up positive doping test results by Russia and let the athletes compete in international championships including the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

He was subsequently accused of corruption by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

In 2020, Diack was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison by a French court in the Russian doping scandal.

Diack had never been jailed but was under house arrest in France since 2015. He was later released on bail.

In May, Diack returned to Senegal.