International Olympic Committee calls for Lamine Diack suspension

Geneva: Former world athletics supremo Lamine Diack should have his honorary membership of the International Olympic Committee suspended in the wake of his arrest on corruption charges, the IOC said on Monday.

In a brief statement on their website, the IOC announced: "The International Olympic Committee Ethics Commission has recommended the provisional suspension of Mr Lamine Diack as an Honorary Member of the IOC."

Diack, 82, was head of the International Association of Athletics Federations for 16 years until August and was arrested by French investigators and charged with corruption last week amid allegations he took bribes to cover up doping cases, principally in Russia.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday published a report which was highly critical of Russian athletics.