Lamine Diack Died: What Was His Cause Of Death?

Senegalese was investigated for corruption within World Athletics, which he ran from 1999 to 2015; the leader also had a name involved in the alleged purchase of votes for the election of Rio for 2016

Senegalese Lamine Diack, who chaired the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF, or International Association of Athletics Federations) between 1999 and 2015, died this Friday at dawn at the age of 88. The cause of death was not revealed. The African had returned to his country in May after being prevented from leaving France for years, where he was convicted of corruption.

Also a former member of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), Diack began to see his reputation crumbling in 2015 after Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) unveiled Russia’s state-sponsored doping scheme. The leader’s role was to cover up positive cases in exchange for bribes from the Russians.

In that same year of 2015, he left the command of World Athletics, succeeded by Sebastian Coe, and started to live with accusations of embezzlement and influence peddling. In 2020, he was sentenced to four years in prison by French justice. However, he was never imprisoned on the grounds that he had health problems and would not resist the conditions imposed in a prison – he served the sentence under house arrest.

Last May, he was released from house arrest on bail and was able to return to Senegal.

According to one of his sons, Papa Massata Diack, who was also investigated for several crimes and ended up sentenced to five years in prison (he is currently appealing the French court decision), Lamine Diack died around 2:00 am (local time).

Diack, who was mayor of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, between 1978 and 1980, would have received around US$ 3.9 million (more than R$ 15 million) in bribes from athletes who had their dopings covered up. He also paid other World Athletics officials to maintain the scheme.

Alleged vote purchase for Rio 2016

Diack’s name also entered the investigation of Operation Unfair Play, which found the purchase of votes for the election of Rio as host of the 2016 Olympics.

Carlos Emanuel Miranda, economist appointed as manager of the bribe of former governor Sérgio Cabral, former governor of Rio who has been in prison since 2016, said in a plea agreement with the Federal Public Ministry that a bribe paid to Lamine Diack would have been used to buy four votes in favor of Rio de Janeiro’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

The MPF had indications that the $2 million paid to Diack had been distributed to other voters in the 2009 poll. According to Miranda, the information was given by Cabral already in prison, in the first two months of 2017. The two were arrested in November 2016, in Operation Calicut, dismemberment of Operation Lava Jato.

Recently, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, former president of COB (Brazil’s Olympic Committee) and Rio 2016, was sentenced to 30 years, 11 months and eight days in prison for the crimes of passive corruption, criminal organization, money laundering, and evasion of foreign exchange.

Nuzman can still appeal the decision in freedom. His defense said the judge convicted him without evidence and that this will be corrected when the court hears the appeal.

Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.

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