French police investigate former IAAF president Lamine Diack

International athletics has been plunged into a major corruption crisis after French police confirmed former IAAF president Lamine Diack is being investigated over an alleged payment of more than €200,000 to cover up doping offences by Russian athletes.

A prosecutor from the Parquet National Financier (PNF) — the office that handles financial prosecutions in France — confirmed that Diack is being investigated.

Diack and his adviser Habib Cisse have been formally interviewed, sources with knowledge of the investigation have confirmed. The IAAF’s anti-doping director Gabriel Dolle has been taken into custody.