OLYMPIC COMMITTEE CALLS FOR DIACK S SUSPENSION

GENEVA – Former world athletics supremo Lamine Diack should have his honorary membership of the International Olympic Committee suspended in the wake of his arrest on corruption charges, the IOC said yesterday.

In a statement on its web- site, the IOC announced: “The International Olympic Committee ethics commission has recommended the provisional suspension of Mr Lamine Diack as an honorary member of the IOC.”

Diack, 82, was head of the International Association of Athletics Federations for 16 years until August and was arrested by French investigators and charged with corruption last week amid allegations he took bribes to cover up doping cases, principally in Russia.

The World Anti-Doping Agency yesterday published a long-awaited report highly critical of Russian athletics.

Wada ’ s independent commission called on the IAAF to suspend the Russian Athletics Federation over doping and corruption allegations, cover-ups, and extortion in Russian athletics, which also implicated the IAAF.

But Russia’s sports min- ister yesterday warned that the commission cannot take the decision to suspend Russia from competition.

“There is no need to get confused, the commission does not have the right to suspend anyone,” Vitaly Mutko told RIA Novosti news agency.