By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

May 14 - Lamine Diack (pictured left) is planning to make $8 million (£5.5 million) worth of cuts to help the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) overcome its finanical difficulties, he said in Doha today.


There is mounting private criticism of the former Senegelese Government Minister after he went back on a promise made at Osaka in 2007 not to seek re-election as President of the IAAF and announced earlier this week that he plans to stand for another four-year term in 2011.

He had been expected to step down and set-up an election between Britain's Sebastian Coe, the 1980 and 1984 Olympic 1500 metres champion, Ukraine's Sergey Bubka, the 1988 Olympic pole vault champion, and Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel, the 1984 Olympic 400m hurdles champion.

But 77-year-old Diack, speaking on the day that the new IAAF Diamond League launches in Doha, claimed he was still the right man for the job.

He said: "I'm as enthusiastic as I was when I was 36.

"I'm in good health and I will try to demonstrate that we are not in bankruptcy."

But Diack did not detail where he planned to make the proposed cuts.

Earlier this week, Coe had told insidethegames "that the IAAF is an organisation that, we know, faces challenges, commercially, internally and externally".

Further complicating the issue is that Diack claimed today that he is still being pressurised to run for President of Senegal in 2012.

Diack had also claimed that he is being "pressurised" to stand again for IAAF President.

If he did stand against current President Abdoulaye Wade in the Senegelese elections and won, then Diack said he would stand down from his IAAF role.

That would mean Bubka, as the senior vice-president of the IAAF, would take over.

Diack said: "People are saying they think they have to find someone to make the transition, to rebuild democracy.

"Ninety percent of the people are saying Diack is the guy for that.

"That's the situation.

"Most political parties said you have to come and if you come you can win the election in 2012."

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Related stories
May 2010: Coe warns that IAAF faces a major crisis
May 2010: Coe IAAF Presidental hopes hit by Diack decision to stand again
August 2009: Coe and Bubka Presidential hopes could be dashed by Diack