Three senior athletics officials have had their provisional suspension from the sport extended by the IAAF’s Ethics Board as it continues investigations into their alleged involvement in a suspected cover-up of Russian doping cases.
Nick Davies, who was chief-of-staff to International Association of Athletics Federations president Sebastian Coe, was initially banned along with his wife Jane Boulter-Davies and IAAF medical manager Pierre-Yves Garnier in June.
Yesterday, the Ethics Board issued a statement saying the suspensions had been extended until January 31 “to allow for the conclusion of the disciplinary investigative process, including any hearing ensuing from the investigations.”
Davies stood down from his role last December pending the investigation into a “potential breach of the IAAF’s code of ethics”.
The Ethics Board statement added: “Each of the three individuals continue to enjoy the presumption of innocence and the extension of the orders for provisional suspension should not be interpreted as any departure from the principle that each individual is to be considered innocent until the conclusion of the disciplinary investigative process.”
The investigations relate to an email reportedly sent by former IAAF consultant Papa Massata Diack to his father, the then-IAAF president Lamine Diack, in July 2013 that allegedly showed the three suspended IAAF officials were in receipt of, or had knowledge of, a cash payment to withhold details of attempted cover-ups of Russian doping cases.
Other emails leaked earlier this year showed Davies had discussed with Papa Diack developing a media strategy to limit the news impact of a series of positive tests by Russian athletes ahead of the 2013 Moscow world athletics championships.
Davies said that the mail was merely “brainstorming for a media strategy” and that he had done nothing wrong.
Last month he told the Daily Mail: “I was conned and never for a second was I told, or thought, this money was to ensure cover-ups of doping in Russia. That would have been abhorrent to me.
“I thought I could trust Lamine Diack and it was my job to promote and protect the image of the IAAF and the World Championships.”