Lamine Diack

{{Infobox person

| name = Lamine Diack

| image = Lamine Diack 2015.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Diack in 2015

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|06|07|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Dakar, French West Africa

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2021|12|3|1933|06|07}}

| death_place = Dakar, Senegal

| education =

| occupation =

| title = President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)

| term = 1999–2015

| predecessor = Primo Nebiolo

| successor = Sebastian Coe

| known for =

| boards =

| spouse =

| parents =

| children =

| relations =

| website =

}}

Lamine Diack (7 June 1933 – 3 December 2021) was a Senegalese businessman, sports administrator, and athlete. He was president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015. He was the subject of numerous investigations into corruption during his tenure as president. He was also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1999 to 2013, then an honorary member from 2014 to 2015, and the chairman of the National Water Company "Société Nationale des Eaux" of Senegal (SONES) from 1995 to 2001. He had been under house arrest since November 2015, and his trial in France started in June 2020. On 16 September 2020, Diack, his son Papa Massata Diack, the head of the IAAF anti-doping department Gabriel Dolle, and other persons were given prison sentences for their part in a coverup of doping in Russia.

Athlete

Diack was a champion long jumper in the late 1950s, winning the event at the 1958 French Athletics Championships and holding the French/West African record from 1957 to 1960.

{{Missing information|- According to the List of mayors of Dakar and the category, he was the mayor 1978-79. Is this accurate, or was this maybe just a namesake? Please someone who knows - clarify and add the information resp. remove the category from this article.|date=November 2024}}

IAAF

Diack became president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on 8 November 1999, and was re-elected for his fourth and final four-year term on 16 October 2011.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120817205721/http://daegu2011.iaaf.org//NewsListDetail.aspx?id=61259 IAAF Congress Day 1 – Daegu 2011: ELECTION RESULTS, 24 Aug – update!] IAAF. 24 August 2011 He was also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Corruption

File:Vladimir Putin and Lamine Diack, 2011.jpg

In 2011 the ethics committee of the IOC conducted a year-long investigation into claims that Diack had received bribes from the bankrupt sports marketing company International Sport and Leisure (ISL).{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/nov/15/iaaf-lamine-diack-bribery-investigation|title=IAAF president Lamine Diack laughs off bribery investigation|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=12 August 2012|date=11 November 2011}} Diack received three payments in 1993 from ISL at a time when the company was in negotiations with the IAAF to sign a marketing contract. The IOC described Diack as having "placed himself in a conflict of interest situation".{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/olympics-ethics-idUSL3E7N851E20111208|title=Hayatou, Diack escape serious punishment over ISL payments|work=Reuters|accessdate=12 August 2012|date=8 December 2011}} Diack claimed that he received the money from supporters after his house burned down. Diack was warned for his behavior, with the fact that he was not a member of IOC at the time of the wrongdoing considered a mitigating factor.

In November 2015, Diack and several other top IAAF officials were arrested in France and charged with "passive corruption" and money laundering by French financial prosecutors. Diack was placed under house arrest in Paris and Gabriel Dollé, the former anti-doping manager at the IAAF, was taken into custody in Nice.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/04/lamine-diack-investigation-iaaf-corruption-doping|title=Lamine Diack, former IAAF head, under investigation in corruption and doping inquiry |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 November 2015 |accessdate=9 November 2018}} The IOC provisionally suspended Diack,{{cite web|title = IOC provisionally suspends Lamine Diack|url = https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ioc-provisionally-suspends-lamine-diack-174736834--spt.html;_ylt=A0LEVxDNLkJW_zQAF81XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyYW05bXRzBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjEyNTNfMQRzZWMDc2M-|website = Yahoo Sports|accessdate = 10 November 2015}} and he resigned his position as an IOC Honorary Member.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/11/lamine-diack-ioc-resigns |title=Former IAAF president Lamine Diack resigns as honorary IOC member |work=The Guardian |date=11 November 2015 |accessdate=15 January 2016}}

In 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency reported that with his influence,{{cite web|url=https://wada-main-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/resources/files/wada_independent_commission_report_2_2016_en.pdf |title=THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION REPORT #2 (page 10) |publisher=World Anti-Doping Agency |date=14 January 2016 |accessdate=15 January 2016 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121075247/https://wada-main-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/resources/files/wada_independent_commission_report_2_2016_en.pdf |archivedate=21 January 2016 }} Diack was able to install two of his sons and a friend into positions that exerted influence over the IAAF. The report says that Lamine Diack "was responsible for organizing and enabling the conspiracy and corruption that took place in the IAAF." In 2018, Diack was handed an additional charge of "breach of trust" by French prosecutors.{{cite news |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1069975/former-iaaf-president-diack-facing-additional-breach-of-trust-charges-in-france|title=Former IAAF President Diack facing additional "breach of trust" charges in France |work=Inside the Games |date=15 September 2018 |accessdate=9 November 2018}}

On 18 June 2020, the trial of Diack and five other people, including his son, concluded. Diack was sentenced to jail for four years, two of them suspended.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/54176537|title=Lamine Diack: Former IAAF head found guilty of corruption and jailed|author=|work=BBC Sport |date=16 September 2020|publisher=|accessdate=16 September 2020}}

Honours

He was awarded the Grand-Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan in 2007.Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA): [http://www.mofa.go.jp/ICSFiles/afieldfile/2007/11/08/2007AutumnConfermentofDecor.pdf 2007 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals, p. 1.]

Death

Diack died on 3 December 2021, at the age of 88.{{cite web |title=Convicted ex-head of world athletics Lamine Diack dies at 88 |url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/convicted-ex-head-world-athletics-lamine-diack-dies-88-2021-12-03/ |website=Reuters |access-date=3 December 2021}}