Son of ex-athletics supremo Diack gets five years in prison for corruption

Papa Massata Diack, the son of former global athletics supremo Lamine Diack, had his five-year prison sentence for corruption involving Russian doping cases confirmed by a Paris appeals court on Thursday.

Diack, who was sentenced in absentia because he refuses to leave his native Senegal, had his fine from the original trial reduced by half to €500 000 ($530 000).

Diack, whose father Lamine headed the IAAF, now called World Athletics, from 1999 to 2015, was one of six men convicted in France in 2020 for hushing up 23 Russian doping offences in exchange for Russian sponsorship contracts.

The trial heard that as a result of hiding the doping cases, the Russian athletes were able to compete at the 2012 London Olympics and 2013 world championships in Moscow.

Papa Massata Diack, known as PMD, had a high-profile role as a marketing consultant for the IAAF.

Senegal refuses to extradite the 57-year-old.

PMD was found guilty of being an accomplice in a bribery scheme and of having embezzled funds to the tune of €15 million at the expense of the IAAF.

Lamine Diack was handed a four-year prison sentence in 2020 but he was never jailed. He remained under house arrest in France and was later released on bail, allowing him to return to Senegal where he died in December 2021 aged 88.