Ex-athletics head gets 2-yr jail term FIRST VACCINE TO OLY BOUND ATHLETES: AFI

Paris, Sept. 16: Former track federation president Lamine Diack was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for his role in a scheme that allowed Russian athletes who paid hush money to keep competing when they should have been suspended for doping.

The guilty verdict in a Paris court represented a spectacular fall from grace for the 87-year-old Diack, who was the powerful head of the IAAF from 1999-2015.

The court also sentenced Diack to another two years of suspended jail time and fined him $590,000.

Diack was found guilty of multiple corruption charges and of breach of trust but acquitted of a money laundering charge. At Diack’s trial in June, prosecutors requested a fouryear jail term and a fine of $590,000. The judge, RoseMarie Hunault, detailed his role in the payoff scheme, dubbed “full protection,” that squeezed Russian athletes suspected of doping of about $3.74 million in hush money.

“The money was paid in exchange for a program of ‘full protection,’” she said, adding the scheme allowed athletes who should have been suspended “purely and simply to escape sanctions.”

The court also handed guilty verdicts to five other people, including Diack’s son, Papa Massata Diack, who worked as an IAAF marketing consultant.

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New Delhi, Sept. 16: Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Wednesday said it has requested the government to give priority to Olympic-bound athletes when a Covid-19 vaccine is available.

Several countries, including India, are trying to develop a Coronavirus vaccine. The Indian government is considering inoculating the front line workers, army personnel and certain categories first.

“We have already discussed this with the government and told them we will need it (vaccine) for our athletes going to the Olympics,” AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said during a webinar.

“We need to make sure once the vaccine comes out, they (Olympic-bound athletes) should be amongst the first batches to get it and the discussion regarding that has already happened,” he further added.

Asked if any player is apprehensive about getting inoculated, like tennis star Novak Djokovic, or if the vaccine could cause problem with dope control, national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said the athletes are looking forward to it. —