IAAF’s most senior anti-doping official, Dr Gabriel Dollé, leaves job
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Version 0 of 1. The most senior anti-doping official in athletics has left his post after being interviewed by the world governing body’s ethics commission, the Guardian can reveal. Dr Gabriel Dollé, the director of the medical and anti-doping department at the International Association of Athletics Federations, was an important figure in the body, with the job of overseeing all doping-related aspects of IAAF events, athletes and associated matters. The Frenchman was also responsible for working closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency and other national anti-doping agencies. It is the latest blow to the IAAF, which has been rocked by a series of allegations over the past week. On Thursday the IAAF marketing adviser Papa Massata Diack – the son of the IAAF president, Lamine Diack – agreed to step down, as did Valentin Balakhnichev, president of the Russian athletics federation and the IAAF’s treasurer, pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of institutionalised doping in Russia. The Guardian has seen the document that formed the basis of a story in the French newspaper L’Equipe this week about the Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova which alleged that two members of the Russian Athletics Federation extorted €450,000 from her in return for covering up a positive test. That document, a submission from Shobukhova’s team to the IAAF ethics commission, includes Dollé’s name several times. It is, however, unclear to what extent Dollé will be implicated in the ethics commission’s investigation. The German broadcaster ARD claimed it had evidence that a €300,000 refund to Shobukhova from the Russian federation – after she had been banned for failing a test – was channelled through a Singapore-based company called Black Tidings, which was owned by a Chinese business partner of Papa Massata Diack. The Senegalese, an IAAF marketing consultant with exclusive rights to sell sponsorship in developing regions, joined the under-pressure Balakhnichev in agreeing to step down. The IAAF issued a statement confirming Papa Massata Diack is suspending his activities and that it “appreciates the gesture of council member Valentin Balakhnichev, who has been the subject of recent media allegations, who has voluntarily decided to cease exercising his duties as IAAF treasurer and council member until the independent IAAF ethics commission’s ongoing investigation has concluded. “IAAF marketing consultant Papa Massata Diack has also written to the IAAF confirming that he will suspend his activities on behalf of the IAAF until the commission has delivered its final report.” The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that emails suggested Papa Massata Diack requested a $5m payment – $440,000 of it in cash – from Qatar in October 2011, during the race to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships. It is not clear whether the payment was made. The IAAF said no contract between it or the state investment entities QSI or Oryx QSI – or any other Qatari companies – had been signed during that period. An IAAF spokesman said he had spoken to Papa Massata Diack and he had denied “receiving any such payment nor ever acting in such a manner on behalf of the IAAF”. The Senegalese has a contract to represent the IAAF’s commercial interests in several developing markets including Qatar, China, Russia and South Korea. It is understood that at a meeting of the IAAF’s executive committee on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the allegations engulfing the sport several of those present insisted that pressure be put on the pair to step down while the ethics commission, chaired by the eminent British QC Michael Beloff, completes its work. There were also calls in that meeting for Habib Cissé, an IAAF legal adviser, to stand down given questions raised by a L’Equipe story about meetings in Moscow hotels in 2011 between himself, Balakhnichev and Papa Massata Diack. But Cissé told the Guardian on Thursday night that he remained an adviser to the IAAF, for which he has been a lawyer for 12 years. “I am not a staff member. The IAAF is one of my clients. I am committed to supporting the ongoing ethics commission investigation. I will co-operate in full and I was one of those who pushed for a truly independent ethics commission,” he said. It is understood that the independent ethics commission has been investigating the doping claims since March and is expected to deliver a verdict within two months. It could theoretically suspend or sanction all those involved, from the president down. Cissé said that the meeting highlighted by L’Equipe was to agree a sponsorship deal for a Russian company that wanted to back the upcoming 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow. He said that as the head of the local organising committee it would be unusual if Balakhnichev was not involved in sponsorship discussions and that he had evidence to put before the ethics commission that would back up his case. In an interview with L’Equipe on Wednesday Lamine Diack said his son was big enough to look after himself and would deal with the claims when he returned from a trip to China to look for sponsors. Lamine Diack, who is 81, is due to stand down as president next year after 16 years in the role. Lord Coe has already declared his candidacy as a potential replacement and he is expected to be opposed by a fellow IAAF vice-president, Sergey Bubka. |