By Olalekan Okusan
Former Technical director of AFN Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama (rtd) has described the conviction of former head of International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Senegalese Lamine Diack in France yesterday for corruption as good lesson for Kleptomaniacs.
Diack, the ex-head of athletics’ governing body, was jailed yesterday in Paris after being found guilty of corruption.
The Senegalese, 87, was convicted of accepting bribes from athletes suspected of doping to cover up test results and letting them continue competing, including in the 2012 London Olympics. He was sentenced to four years in prison, two of them suspended.
Speaking on the development, Nesiama said the jailing of Diack has again painted a bad picture of Africa.
He said: “It is very painful and shameful that at his age, he was involved in various crimes levelled against him and this again has shown that nobody is above the law; and that if you go against the established rules you can be prosecuted regardless of who you are.
“It is quite shameful that when he was supposed to be retiring and enjoying his rest, he was sent to jail. I know that some of the accusations against him, he might not be directly involved but by proxy he was found guilty because he was in charge of the sport when the event happened.
Diack’s lawyers said he would be appealing against the judgement.
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