This archive report was first published on 7 November 2019.
On November 6, 2019, Papa Massata Diack, the son of former world athletics supremo Lamine Diack, was questioned in his native Senegal about accusations he and his father covered up Russian doping for payment.
Diack, who handled valuable marketing rights for the International Association of Athletics Associations (IAAF), was questioned by an investigating magistrate as part of a local investigation, according to a source close to the case.
French prosecutors accuse the Diacks of being at the heart of a web of corruption, including allegations that Lamine Diack, who was IAAF president between 1999 and 2015, obtained Russian funds for political campaigns in Senegal in exchange for the IAAF's anti-doping arm covering up Russian offences.
Diack, known as PMD, is accused of playing a central role in the network of corruption and is charged in France with money laundering, giving bribes, and aiding the receiving of bribes.
Senegal opened a parallel investigation into the accusations in 2016, and Diack denies the accusations.
French authorities have said the trial of Diack and his father will start on January 13, but Diack has refused to leave Senegal, and despite two international arrest warrants issued by France, the Senegalese authorities have said they will not extradite him.
Russia was banned from competing in several international competitions over state-sponsored doping between 2011 and 2015, and despite being reinstated by other sports federations, Russia is still banned from competing as a nation by the IAAF.
