Nick Davies provisionally suspended by IAAF Ethics Board
Three members of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) staff have been provisionally suspended by the IAAF Ethics Board.
IAAF deputy general secretary Nick Davies, project manager Jane Boulter-Davies and IAAF medical manager Pierre-Yves Garnier are provisionally suspended for a period of 180 days starting on June 10 pending investigation of potential breaches of the IAAF’s Code of Ethics, the IAAF Ethics Board announced on Friday (June 10).
In December, Davies announced that he had "decided to step aside" from his role at the world governing body. That came after an email, which was sent from Davies to former IAAF marketing consultant Papa Massata Diack in 2013 and discussed Russian doping cases, was published by French newspaper Le Monde.
In a statement the IAAF Ethics Board, chaired by Michael Beloff QC, referenced an email reported to have been sent from former IAAF marketing consultant Papa Massata Diack to his father Lamine Diack, the former IAAF President, on July 29, 2013.
Summarising the prima facie case against Davies, the IAAF Ethics Board statement read in part: "As against Mr Davies, (a) that Mr Davies received an undisclosed cash payment in 2013 from Mr Papa Massata Diack, then a consultant to the IAAF, the circumstances and concealment of which call into question whether the payment was intended to have and/or in fact produced any manipulative effect; and (b) that Mr Davies misled an IAAF Ethics Board investigator in respect of the matter identified in (a) above."
The case against Boulter-Davies is that she received or had knowledge of receipt by Davies of an undisclosed cash payment in 2013 made by Papa Massata Diack and misled an IAAF Ethics Board investigator in respect of that matter, while the case against Garnier is that he received an undisclosed cash payment in 2013 at the direction of Lamine Diack and retained some part of the sum even when aware of its apparent impropriety.
Further details on the prima facie cases can be found here.
The investigations will be carried out by the IAAF Ethics Board's appointed investigator, Sir Anthony Hooper.
"The orders for provisional suspension have been imposed in the interests of the integrity of the sport but do not prejudge the outcome of the investigations which are now to follow," read the IAAF Ethics Board statement.
"Mr Davies, Ms Boulter-Davies and Mr Garnier enjoy the presumption of innocence until the outcome of the investigation and the determination of any disciplinary charges which may follow from the three investigations which Sir Anthony Hooper will now carry out."
An IAAF response to the IAAF Ethics Board statement read: "There is no greater priority for the IAAF right now than to get to the truth of the allegations that have been made against the sport. These particular facts were made public in December 2015 and relate to allegations of a breach of the IAAF Code of Ethics.
"The IAAF welcomes these investigations by the Ethics Board and investigator Sir Anthony Hooper and thanks them for the difficult and hard work they continue to undertake on behalf of the sport and the organisation.
"As the Ethics Board statement says, each of the persons provisionally suspended ‘enjoys the presumption of innocence until the outcome of the investigation and the determination of disciplinary charges, if any, brought against them’. It is therefore important that we let these investigations take their course without further comment."
