Monday, November 9 is set to be a landmark day in the fight against drugs in sport.
This lunchtime, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) will release a report which allege that former IAAF president Lamine Diack accepted bribes and backhanders to cover up positive doping tests.
The 325-page report specifically focuses on widespread doping and cover-ups in Russian athletics and will document “a whole different scale of corruption” than the Fifa scandals according to its co-author Richard McLaren.
The effects of the report are likely to be wide-reaching, with Russia potentially set to be expelled from the Rio Olympic Games next summer.
But leading journalist David Walsh, one of a select few who can claim responsibility for bringing down Lance Armstrong, believes the shock waves could go even further than that.
Thinking about about top officials in IAAF, how can independent commission avoid conclusion that athletics is non-compliant with Wada code?
— David Walsh (@DavidWalshST) November 9, 2015
If athletics is deemed non-compliant with code, which it should be, that would jeopardise its place in Rio. This is big day for anti doping.
— David Walsh (@DavidWalshST) November 9, 2015
It’s hard to imagine an Olympic Games without athletics, but maybe the problem is so bad that the sport needs to be re-booted and started again?
