Both men received payments from former marketing agency ISL when neither was a member of the IOC with Hayatou having joined in 2001 and Diack in 1999.

The light sentences do not affect either Hayatou or Diack's abilities to continue as IOC members.

"A warning is not a sanction, a reprimand is a sanction," said Rogge, explaining the difference in the two decisions by the IOC Ethics Commission.

"You could compare it to a yellow card in football.

"You get a yellow card but can continue to play.

"It is always sad if you have to discipline colleagues but bear in mind the needs of the organisation."

The Commission had been investigating claims made by the BBC Panorama programme in November 2010 that Hayatou had received 100,000 French francs and Diack a series of payments totalling 52,680 Swiss francs from ISL.

The 65-year-old Hayatou (pictured), the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1987, claimed he had accepted the money in 1995 to finance the 40th anniversary dinner of the CAF.

The Cameroonian had told the Ethics Commission that he had accepted the money in cash because of "the state of banking technology in some countries, making cash payments was current practice at the time".

Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, had claimed last month that they had inspected the CAF books and the money had been properly accounted for.

When the BBC broadcast the claims Hayatou had threatened to sue them.

But the IOC Ethics Commission discovered that the documents had been drawn up "a long time after receipt of the funds" and "do not guarantee that these payments were indeed made into the CAF accounts."

It concluded: "The Commission notes that, although the acts took place at a time when Mr Issa Hayatou was not yet an IOC member, he was the then vice-president of an international federation, FIFA, a constituent of the Olympic Movement and that, as such, he was obliged to to respect the fundamental principles of Olympism."

Diack, President of the IAAF since 1999, admitted to the Ethics Commission receiving three payments from ISL in 1993 when he claimed were a gift and were to "meet the costs caused by a fire at his house started for political reasons".

The 78-year-old Senegalese (pictured) claimed that the payments were "not given in return for anything or any undertaking" even though around the same time the IAAF, of which he was vice-president, signed a marketing deal with ISL. 

But the Ethics Commission decided that he should only be issued with a warning, "respecting the principle of proportionality...as well as the particular personal situtation which affected him," it said.

Brazilian Joao Havelange, who was FIFA President from 1974 until 1998 and an IOC member for 48 years, resigned last week meaning the IOC dropped the investigation into his alleged involvement.

Panorama had claimed that the 95-year-old Brazilian had received $1 million (£639,000/€746,000) from ISL, which owned World Cup television rights and collapsed with debts of $300 million (£192 million/€224 million) in 2001.

He was facing a two-year suspension - or even expulsion - but his decision to resign earlier this month citing health reasons meant the investigation was dropped.

Rogge refused to disclose how he felt about the resignation of Havelange (pictured), the IOC's longest serving member, or whether he felt it was fair that he had evaded punishment.

"I have no emotion to display, I have tasks to fulfil and duties to respect," he told Andrew Jennings, the presenter of the  Panorama programme, who asked Rogge the question here following the conclusion of a meeting of the IOC's ruling Executive Board. 

"I am not here to display my emotions, I keep my thoughts for myself.

"I received the resignation of Mr Havelange, it was endorsed by the Executive Board and as a result of that he's not an IOC member any more.

"For us he's a private person.

"We will not hesitate to act.

"The wider world will acknowledge that the IOC means business and is accountable and transparent."

The decision to reprimand Hayatou, though, will put more pressure on Blatter for FIFA to investigate the ISL scandal in greater depth.

He has announced plans reopen a court dossier relating to the collapse of ISL but has been forced to postpone that decision because of legal problems.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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