Embattled IAAF set to meet in Monte Carlo amid doping and corruption scandals
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This year’s IAAF council meeting is expected to be a long and uneasy affair at the Fairmont Hotel in Monte Carlo.
Athletics’ world governing body, on Thursday, is to discuss the latest developments in the doping and corruption scandals that have rocked the organization.
Russian athletes are currently banned from all competition after an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released a report detailing systematic, state-sponsored doping that had “sabotaged” the 2012 Olympics in London.
The ban will remain in place until Russia can prove that it has fixed its system which means its athletes could miss out on the Rio Olympics next year.
IAAF president Sebastien Coe will also be under the spotlight as he will face questions over a conflict of interest.
An email has recently emerged suggesting he lobbied his predecessor Lamine Diack in the controversial awarding of the 2021 world championships to Eugene – a city closely linked with Nike with whom Coe holds a £100,000 a year ambassadorial role.
Coe denies any wrongdoing.
Diack, meanwhile is currently under investigation by French police for allegedly accepting bribes to cover up doping cases.
Thursday’s meeting will be long and uneasy.