Ex-athletics chief Diack returns to Senegal
Issued on: Lamine Diack (C) Thomas SAMSON AFP/File 2 min
Dakar (AFP)
The former head of global athletics, Lamine Diack, sentenced by a French court to four years in prison for corruption, has returned to Senegal, a relative said on Tuesday.
Diack s relative, who requested anonymity, said that his family greeted him with joy, fervour and gratitude as he got off the plane late Monday.
The 87-year-old Diack led the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now renamed World Athletics, from 1999 to 2015.
He was found guilty in September of corruption in covering up Russian doping cases and was sentenced to four years in prison, of which two years were suspended, and fined 500,000 euros (600,000 dollars). Diack has appealed.
Diack’s lawyers said a Senegalese football club had raised the money to pay the bond.
The 87-year-old Diack led the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now renamed World Athletics, from 1999 to 2015.
He was found guilty in September of corruption in covering up Russian doping cases and was sentenced to four years in prison, of which two years were suspended, and fined 500,000 euros (600,000 dollars). Diack has appealed.
At the time, the presiding judge in the court in Paris, Rose-Marie Hunault, said Diack was unlikely to go to jail.
“Given your age you can expect conditional release,” she said.
Diack was being held in France because of his indictment in a second case involving suspected Olympic vote-buying. His passport had been confiscated.
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