IAAF World Championships in Qatar: Y. Al-Obaidly and L. Diack investigated by French authorities

Yousef Al-Obaidly, CEO of beIN Media Group and president of beIN Sports France, and Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF from 1999 to 2015, were investigated by French authorities for "active corruption" and "passive corruption", respectively, on 27 and 28/03/2019, according to information reported by Le Monde and Agence France Presse on 21/05/2019.

The investigation concerns suspicions of corruption on the sidelines of the Doha (Qatar) bid applications for the 2017 and 2019 World Championships in athletics. The 2017 edition was awarded to London (United Kingdom) in 2011, and the 2019 edition to Doha on 18/11/2014.

Investigators question two payments totaling $3.5m made in the autumn of 2011 by the company Oryx Qatar Sports Investment, in favour to a sports marketing company headed by Papa Massata Diack, the son of Lamine Diack, according to AFP.

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was also placed, in March 2019, under the status of assisted witness in this inquiry, which also targets the conditions for the awarding of the Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games, according to Agence France…