International track officials suspended in Russian doping scandal

The ongoing Russian doping scandal has now widened to include three international track federation officials, suspended Friday for allegedly receiving cash to conceal positive tests by Russian athletes.

The provisional suspensions were set for 180 days while the federation, the IAAF, continues an investigation into the matter.

The officials include Nick Davies, a top aide to IAAF President Sebastian Coe, and his wife, Jane Boulter-Davies. Medical manager Pierre-Yves Garnier was also suspended.

“Mr. Davies, Ms Boulter-Davies and Mr. Garnier enjoy the presumption of innocence until the outcome of the investigation,” the IAAF ethics board said in a statement.

The case involves a 2013 email between between former IAAF President Lamine Diack and his son, Papa Massata Diack, who also previously worked for the federation.

The message, first reported by the French newspaper Le Monde, allegedly proposes to diminish bad publicity by delaying the announcement of Russian doping cases until after that year’s world championships in Moscow.

Davies, who worked as the elder Diack’s communications chief, is suspected of receiving an undisclosed cash payment from the younger Diack to participate in the scheme and of subsequently misleading an IAAF investigator. Boulter-Davies and Garnier face similar allegations.

Next week, IAAF officials will meet to decide the fate of Russia’s track and field federation in relation to the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics.

All Russian track athletes were banned from international competition last year following a report that alleged systemic cheating that also involved coaches and officials.

The IAAF must decide whether Russia’s track federation has undertaken sufficient reforms to be reinstated for the Games, which begin Aug. 5.

david.wharton@latimes.com

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