Diack tells court he slowed handling of Russian doping cases to save sponsorship

FILE PHOTO: Former President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Lamine Diack, wearing a face mask, gestures as he arrives for his trial at the Paris courthouse, France, June 8, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - Lamine Diack, the former head of World Athletics, on Thursday told a French court he had slowed the handling of Russian doping cases between 2011-2013 to save a sponsorship deal with a Russian bank.

Diack, 87, said he had not sought to protect the athletes caught up in the scandal, some of whom later competed in the London 2012 Olympics, but to ensure the cases did not come to public attention all at once. This, he said, would have caused a scandal.