Ex-IAAF chief Diack faces new charges in France

French investigators on Monday hit former IAAF president Lamine Diack with new corruption charges linked to doping cover-ups in world athletics, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.

The Senegalese is suspected of turning a blind eye to doping cases, notably involving Russian athletes, in exchange for money.

Investigators also suspect him of making cash payments totalling 140,000 euros ($152,000; £103,000) to Gabriel Dolle, a doctor for the IAAF until last year who has also been charged with corruption, the source said.

Diack, 82, denies making the payments.

It is these suspicions that led to the new charges being laid against Diack, who was seen by an AFP reporter at the High Court in Paris on Monday accompanied by his lawyers.

He has already been charged with corruption, money laundering and conspiracy along with his legal advisor Habib Cisse and Dolle.

Diack's lawyer Daouda Diop did not respond to AFP's attempts to contact him, while another of his representatives, Alexandre Varraut, refused to comment.

Following his arrest in November, Diack resigned from his position on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), where he had served as an honorary member.

The Senegalese national served as head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for 16 years until August, when he was succeeded by Sebastian Coe.

Last month, Russia was provisionally suspended from track and field over accusations of "state-sponsored" doping as the IAAF scrambled to salvage the sport's credibility just nine months out from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Just last week, Diack denied accusations in French newspaper Le Monde that he had received a donation from Russia of 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million; £1.1 million) to help fund Senegal president Macky Sall's election campaign in 2012.

Diack was quoted by Le Monde as saying that former Russian Athletics Federation president Valentin Balakhnishev, an ex-IAAF treasurer, had made the payments to help Sall's campaign.

"It was necessary at the time to win the 'battle of Dakar' -- that is, change those who were in power in my country Senegal," Diack said, according to taped legal interviews cited by Le Monde.

While Diack's lawyers said the media reports had been "taken out of their context", he did admit to Senegalese radio RFM that he had funded supporters of Sall.

"There were youngsters who mobilised themselves and I bet on them: I financed them," said Diack, according to Senegalese press reports.

Meanwhile, Diack's successor at the head of the IAAF, Coe, has had to defend the decision to award the 2021 World Championships to the northwest American city of Eugene, Oregon, after French prosecutors opened an investigation into the process.

Eugene, which has close ties to American sportswear giant Nike for whom Coe was an ambassador, won the right to host the biennial event despite the absence of a formal bidding procedure.

Coe subsequently stepped down from his role with Nike.

Source: AFP