Leaked emails show that Papa Massata Diack, the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, was "apparently involved" in a scheme to deliver "parcels" to influential members of the IOC, according to Owen Gibson of the LONDON TIMES. The former IAAF marketing consultant was last week banned for life by the independent IAAF ethics committee over "corruption and cover-up allegations linked to Russian doping." In Dec. '14, the Guardian revealed that Papa Massata Diack had appeared to request almost $5M from Qatar at a time when Doha was bidding for the 2017 world athletics championships and the Olympic Games. Through the IAAF, Papa Massata Diack denied "ever acting in such a manner." Another "explosive email" now suggests that three years earlier he had a "cryptic exchange" with a Qatari business exec in which he made repeated reference to a "Special Adviser," who IAAF sources suggested "was likely to be his father Lamine." The email goes on to suggest that six individuals, "referred to only by their initials but corresponding with six members of the IOC at the time," had requested "to have their parcels delivered through Special Adviser in Monaco." The email added, "Our special adviser insisted that we do not compromise his credibility with his people and don’t dragging him in the negative attitudes created in Beijing [sic]." Diack Sr. was arrested by French police in November over allegations that he had accepted "more than €1M" in order to cover up positive drug tests. French prosecutors said that Papa Massata Diack, who is believed to be in Senegal, "would also be arrested if he set foot in the country." It is apparently dated May '08, when Qatar "was in the midst of lobbying to host the 2016 Olympic Games." The "apparent link to the IOC could prove damaging" for an organization "regularly depicted as having reformed itself in the wake of the 1998 Salt Lake City scandal." An IOC spokesperson defended its track record and "pointed to its independent ethics commission." The spokesperson said, "The IOC has an independent ethics commission consisting of a majority of independent personalities coming from the highest levels of the juridical, political or business world. It has a track record of taking firm action based on evidence provided" (LONDON TIMES, 1/11).
