World athletics chief faces calls to quit

Lamine Diack, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, is facing open rebellion over his leadership.

Luciano Barra, a respected administrator in Olympic and athletics circles, has issued an open letter calling for Diack to quit as head of the sport’s world governing body.

Barra, who played a key role in the Turin winter Olympics and was previously chief of staff to Diack’s autocratic predecessor Primo Nebiolo, accused Diack of failing to enhance athletics during his seven years in charge.

He says in the letter: “I am telling you now as a friend and in the clearest possible way – decide now to leave the IAAF presidency.

“Keep the honorary presidency. Keep the Foundation presidency. Keep all the attached benefits. But help the IAAF to change skin and bring in new blood able to face its challenges.

“You would be admired in the world of sport for such a gesture and remembered in the right way, for a long time.

“If at the next IAAF Congress – as it looks like – nothing changes, the alternative will be to have another five years of decadence and for you to pass to the history as the man who sunk athletics in the third millennium.”

Barra, 64, insists he harbours no personal ambitions of replacing Diack, who has announced he will be seeking reselection at the IAAF Congress held in conjunction with the World Championships next summer in Osaka.

Barra, who worked with Nebiolo for more than 20 years in which the sport made a transition from amateurism to a professional status, has attacked in particular the governing body’s World Athletics Plan.

He claims: “Your plan is not delivering, the position of the sport on television is deteoriatring rapidly, the competition system is a mess, the investment in development is being wasted and there is any number of indicators of the decline of our sport.

“And you seem to be missing the whole situation, without the needed and proper vision.”

Barra claimed he was told by one IAAF director: “No skier in Torino went downhill as fast as our sport is going at the moment.”

It is thought Barra would ideally like Sebastian Coe to take over, but that is a non-starter given his role as head of the London 2012 Games.