Seb Coe and the Corruption Scandal Panorama

Tonight - the biggest scandal in world sport.

We just used to refer to them as "the cheating Russians".

And the former Olympic champion we're told we can trust to fix it.

There's an enormous amount of reputational recovery

that has to occur here, and I can't think of anyone better

than Lord Coe to lead that.

But Lord Coe's presidency of world athletics has been

beset with questions.

I was certainly not aware of the specific allegations that

have been made around the corruption of anti-doping processes.

Was that right?

Panorama investigates what Lord Coe knew, and when.

Did you mislead parliament?

These involved serious criminal matters.

The right thing to do would be to put that information

into the hands of the criminal authorities straight away.

And we uncover Lord Coe's links to the man at the centre

of the corruption scandal.

If he not the blessing of Lamine Diack, or my support,

he would never have been elected as president.

He knows that.

We ask - is Lord Coe the man to clean up world athletics?

Great Britain delivers!

Olympic champions.

London 2012, almost everybody agreed these were the most successful games

ever, on and off the track.

Behind me the athletics stadium, the scene of Super Saturday,

one of Britain's greatest days ever at the Olympics.

The country was on a high.

Lord Coe, the man who brought the games to London, was a hero.

A double Olympic gold medal winner himself, he led the bid to host

the Games in London.

The Games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the City

of London.

CHEERING.

# What have you done today to make you feel proud #.

By the time the games opened, he had been vice president of the IAAF -

athletics' world governing body - for five years.

Seb was flawless, actually, in how he delivered the games.

He was a great leader, he was a great speaker,

he looks good, he's got the double Olympic champion,

he's got the brand to match the aspiration.

Sebastian Coe.

For the athletes gathered here on the eve of this great endeavour,

I say that to you is given something precious and irreplaceable -

to run faster, to jump higher, to be stronger.

Thank you for making all this possible.

We were promised the cleanest Olympics ever.

We now know that's not what we got.

Russian long distance champion Liliya Shobukhova

was in London to race.

British athletes had suspected her of

doping for some time.

We just used to refer to them as "the cheating Russians".

That's what's frustrating, because if us, as distance runners

in the British team, could see that, surely people who were in authority

would also be able to see that.

This was Shobukhova racing against Jo Pavey in the 2006

European Championships.

I'm there in front of them, hoping I could run the sting out

of them, but the way Liliya Shobukhova took off...

I mean at the time it did feel superhuman to me.

I was left feeling like I'd failed, like I'd let people

down that supported me.

Whereas when I look back at it now, maybe I wasn't failing

and it is frustrating because I can never get that moment back.

It wasn't until 2014 that Jo Pavey discovered the truth

about what she'd long suspected.

A German documentary, made here in Berlin,

exposed state-sponsored doping of Russian athletes,

including Liliya Shobukhova.

She and five other athletes had been caught in IAAF doping tests a year

before the London Olympics, and it was being covered up.

Morning Hajo, Mark Daly here.

Hajo Seppelt is the reporter who broke the story.

This was a massive violation of the competition itself,

of the sport itself.

And to be honest, it was a fraud for the whole public,

for the whole public worldwide.

People watched the Olympics in London.

What they had seen, but have not been aware of it, was fraud.

Nothing more than fraud.

Liliya Shobukhova.

It was a cover-up on a grand scale, and it was being orchestrated

by people inside the sport's governing body.

This was proof for the very first time that corruption,

corrupt people, had managed to infiltrate sport

at its very heart.

This meant that athletes who had doped, who had cheated,

were allowed to line up and race in the London Olympics.

At the heart of the cover-up was a blackmail plot.

Shobukhova was told by Russian officials if she wanted

to compete in London, she had to pay 450,000 euros

to make her doping problems go away.

She paid up.

They sold the right to stand, or to be on the starting line

at the Olympics, to cheaters.

But honest officials inside the IAAF couldn't believe their eyes

when they saw Shobukhova running in London.

They raised the alarm.

What happened next left a trail of corruption that led to the very

top of athletics.

The Russian Federation went back to her and said,

"We're sorry, we're going to have to ban you anyway".

She said, "Wait a minute, I've paid a fortune to have this

struck from my record, I want my money back".

And then there's this ridiculous situation where she gets a partial

refund of 300,000 euros, made from an account linked

to the president's son.

This is the president's son...

Papa Massata Diack.

At the time, a marketing consultant to the IAAF

and an influential insider.

Behind the scenes and international criminal investigation

began, led by the French.

Its focus - Papa Massata Diack.

Shobukhova says she had to pay 450,000 euros,

in order to be allowed to continue to compete -

even if she should have been banned because of doping.

And Papa Massata Diack is alleged to be a part of the corruption case.

That would make him very high up in this chain of corruption then?

It would make him an important person in this corruption.

Papa Diack was forced to step down from the IAAF,

as was its treasurer, while the corruption

allegations were investigated.

But for the rest of the organisation, it

was business as usual.

Papa's father, Lamine Diack, who'd been president for 16 years,

had already announced his plans to retire.

Lord Coe, the man who served under him as a vice president

for eight years, won the election for the top job.

He lavished praise on the outgoing Lamine.

He will always be our spiritual president, and he will certainly

be my spiritual president, so thank you Lamine,

for your help.

And a promise for the future.

At the heart of the sport, our sport, sits trust and integrity,

and if there is a real problem or a perceived problem,

we have to deal with it.

But the honeymoon didn't last long.

Three months after Lord Coe was elected president,

his predecessor Lamine Diack was arrested.

Days later the World Anti-Doping Agency published an independent

report - confirming systemic doping in Russia, as well as corruption

and bribery at the highest level of the IAAF.

The chief investigator was Jack Robertson.

Treatment for throat cancer has affected his voice.

The crisis was deepening.

Lord Coe was not one of the IAAF officials found to be personally

involved in the Russian doping and corruption scandal,

but he had been a vice president throughout.

Is Sebastian Coe the right man to lead the IAAF out of this mess?

I think that Seb Coe is somebody who can grasp this, and be

transformational enough to bring about some change in athletics.

But that wasn't enough for many.

The world now wanted to know what Lord Coe knew

- and when.

The allegations that corruption has taken place

in our organisation are truly shocking, and no, I did not know

the basis of those allegations.

Lord Coe was called to give evidence to Parliament.

MPs wanted to know why he hadn't been more prominent in pressing

the doping issue while he was a vice president.

I was certainly not aware of the specific allegations that had

been made around the corruption of anti-doping processes in Russia.

And what about the alleged involvement of the former

president's son, Papa Diack?

But you were aware of allegations against his son, Papa Massata Diack?

Well, they were allegations that were aired in the ARD documentary.

But I've seen evidence, along with another journalist

from the Daily Mail, that undermines what Lord Coe has said.

The chronology of this is crucial.

In April 2014 an IAAF employee helps Shobukhova's agent

compile a complaint, detailing the corruption

and the extortion.

That complaint is submitted to the Ethics Commission,

with the help of former world record-holder,

Dave Bedford.

Three months later, Mr Bedford decided to bring it to the attention

of one man in the IAAF he trusted.

In August 2014 he e-mailed the complaint to the then vice

president, Lord Coe.

I've seen the complaint, and it details precisely the corruption,

extortion and bribery allegations and the suggestion that

Papa Massata Diack, the president's son,

could have been involved.

Now, these claims set out in black and white,

were the claims that would eventually bring the sport

of athletics to its knees - sent directly to Lord Coe's e-mail.

So four months before that German documentary revealed the scandals,

we know Lord Coe was e-mailed about the doping, the cover-up

and the plot to extort money from Shobukhova.

Lord Coe, from what you've been told, was sent this evidence,

and therefore I think his answer to the Select Committee

was deliberately misleading, to create the impression

that he was totally unaware of any specific allegations of this kind.

Not only does it look like Lord Coe misled Parliament, it

raises more questions for the IAAF President.

These involved serious criminal matters.

The right thing to do would be to put that information

into the hands of the criminal authorities, straight away.

Time to track down the man at the heart of the scandal,

Papa Massata Diack.

Dakar, Senegal - Papa Massata Diack's home.

And prison.

If he sets foot outside the country, he'll be arrested and deported

to France, where his father Lamine is already facing

corruption charges.

It took two trips to Senegal, a dozen meetings with his advisers,

and several false starts, but eventually he agreed

to an interview.

The Ethics Commission has banned you for life, Interpol wants

you for criminal allegations of bribery and corruption.

Are you the most corrupt man in athletics?

No way, I'm not.

I totally reject those allegations.

I have never, never, never been involved in any

payment or any extortion of Lilia Shobukhova.

But French investigators have linked him to a company

called Black Tidings, involved in the Liliya

Shobukhova extortion plot.

It was a Black Tidings account that refunded most of

the extortion money.

So have you got any relationship to the Black Tidings account?

Have you ever received money from Black Tidings?

I know the owner of Black Tidings, and I recognised it immediately

on your statement...

You've never had any money from Black Tidings?

They're saying I'm linked to the payment from Black Tidings

to the Russian athlete.

That's what they say.

Let them prove it.

So Papa Diack denies involvement in the Shobukhova plot,

but he says there was a plan to delay announcing Russian

doping bans until after the Moscow World

Championships in 2013.

All we did about this Russian affair was to protect our

world championship.

There was no cover up of any, any, any doping matters.

We didn't want to affect both the World Championship 2013

and the Winter Games, which Russia spent $51 billion.

After our documentary it was known for everyone,

not only the world of sports, that this person is one of

the most corrupt and dangerous persons.

He is toxic.

You cannot work with him, you cannot collaborate with him.

It is absolutely impossible.

In international athletics all roads lead to Monaco, home of the IAAF.

We appear to have landed into the middle of the Monaco Formula 1 Grand

Prix set up.

I'm not entirely sure we're supposed to be here.

I think the IAAF office...

Let's find some parking.

..is going to be right up there.

What I discovered next calls into question how Lord Coe ran

his election campaign to win the IAAF presidency.

"Thank you once again for your advice.

Just who is said taking advice from and getting cosy

with in these text messages while he is campaigning for

President?

I met him in Beijing, I met him in Nassau at his request.

I met him again, he came to check me up in Beijing before the elections.

Yes, three times.

You met three times, OK.

So Sebastian Coe asked you for political campaign advice?

He came to meet me, yes.

This was the spring and summer of 2015 - several months

after the world knew Papa Diack had been accused

of dishonesty on a grand scale.

We have to treat his claims with extreme caution.

But there is evidence.

What we've got is a cache of emails and maybe more significantly text

messages, SMSs, private messages between Papa Massata Diack

and Sebastian Coe, and his effective campaign manager, Nick Davies.

Nick Davies was head of communications at the IAAF

and was helping with Lord Coe's election campaign.

So, it seems, was Papa Diack.

"Seb is very happy with your political campaign advice.

He told me about your Bahamas meeting."

"Hey Papa!"

"Seb has been trying to reach you by French mobile.

He wants to speak to you and thank you for your support."

"Awaiting his call."

"Spoke with Seb."

"Yes - Seb told me he had and to thank you for the advice."

I do know how the politics works in the IAAF.

And I gave him my ideas and we shared those ideas.

Nick Davies was the go-between Seb and myself.

It wasn't just ideas.

In the days before the election he appeared to provide information

on the tactics of Lord Coe's rival Sergey Bubka.

"I discovered the edge SB is trying to use Areas vs

The Olympic Athlete Dividend".

"Good info - will pass it on."

But he went much further than that.

Papa Diack seemed to provide intelligence on how IAAF

delegates might vote in the Presidential election.

"Speak to Phil Knight for confirmation of Steve Miller

(USATF delegate to Congress) for his pledge!!!??"

He says, "get a message to Seb,

tell him to speak to Phil Knight of Nike, for confirmation of the USA

delegate for his pledge."

Lord Coe knows Phil Knight because he was a paid

ambassador for Nike.

Every vote counted.

And 40 minutes later.

"Done!"

"Just bumped into Seb - he is extremely grateful

for your advice and friendship - see you later!"

During Lord Coe's election campaign, Eugene in America,

the birthplace of Nike, was awarded the 2021 World

Athletics Championships without a bidding process.

Sebastian Coe came under extreme pressure over his potential conflict

of interest with his role at Nike and he was at pains to say

that his role with Nike had never interfered with his role

at the IAAF.

Lord Coe reluctantly gave up his role as a Nike ambassador

after I revealed he may have lobbied Lamine Diack

on behalf of Eugene's bid.

Which he denies.

And now the Eugene decision is under investigation.

The way that Eugene has been chosen and specially what was the role

of Sebastian Coe in that decision, because Lamine Diack was supposed

not to choose before leaving as the President and then

he changed his mind.

So we are just checking why he changed his mind.

Neither Mr Knight, nor Mr Miller responded to our

questions about contact during Lord Coe's election campaign.

Papa Diack's help came with strings attached.

"In your next press statements you must clearly

speak about President's achievements in 16 years!"

"Absolutely, I always do but will make an extra effort.

Thanks. S."

"And leave the doping platform!!

It is a bad mantra for your campaigning."

"Will do."

I showed the messages to Jack Robertson,

the man who investigated the Shobukhova scandal.

And this is in the middle of our investigation where it

appears that Coe is taking advice from someone who is at the centre

of this scandal to extort athletes.

It's wrong on so many fronts.

It's, it's not just disappointing.

It's disgusting.

But why would Lord Coe want to get up close and personal

with Papa Diack at a time when he was under

investigation for corruption?

If he had not the blessing of Lamine Diack or my support,

he would have never been elected as the IAAF President.

That, he knows that.

So was the secret alliance with the man Lord Coe knew

was accused of corruption all about votes?

"Hi, Papa - Seb feels a shift tonight in Africa -

should he be worried?"

"Good then!!!!

Support of Africa confirmed (24 out of 30)!

Good luck."

Now presumably that's 24 out of the 30 nations that Diack

was able to speak to and 24 is an extremely significant number

because when Sebastian Coe won the election, he won

it by just 23 votes.

A few days earlier, Lord Coe seemed keen to make sure Papa Diack made

an important meeting.

"Are you still in Dubai? Our friend is trying to find you."

"I have delayed my departure from 4am to 11am to see

him if he wishes so!!"

"Good."

Papa Diack told me 'our friend' is Hamad Kalkaba Malboum,

President of the African Athletics Federation.

His support was crucial.

"Well done for the final race of your career!!

Long life and best in your endeavours, Mr President

IOC Cardinal!

Please make a special vote of thanks to Kalkaba."

"THANK YOU, of course I will, see you later."

I wrote to Lord Coe asking about his relationship with Papa Diack.

He said no to an interview and didn't respond to

any of my questions.

So I came to Norway, where Lord Coe was due

to speak at a conference.

Lord Coe, Good morning. Good morning

How are you? I'm very good, thank you.

Mark Daly from BBC Panorama.

No, no, we're just going straight to the conference.

Mark Daly from BBC Panorama.

Can I ask you a few questions, Lord Coe?

Thank you. Can I ask you a few questions?

I think our offices have been in touch, so...

Yeah, the problem is, they haven't actually answered

any of our questions.

I'm going that way. Thank you.

Why were you so close to Papa Massata Diack in the run

to your presidential election?

At this point you knew that he was accused of the most serious

corruption...

How was the journey in?

..that athletics has ever seen.

Perhaps you could explain why you were in such contact

with Papa Massata Diack?

Look, I know our offices have been in touch.

Do speak to Jackie Brock-Doyle who's our director of communications

because I know she's been speaking regularly to your team.

We haven't got any answers to our questions though.

And what would he say about whether he'd been entirely

frank with MPs over the Shobukhova scandal -

what he knew and when?

Can I ask, did you mislead Parliament?

Lord Coe?

Thanks very much.

You've told us to trust you, that you're the man to save athletics.

Perhaps we could have some answers to our questions?

Lord Coe?

I thought I'd have one more go.

Did you take political campaign advice from Papa Massata Diack

when he was accused of corruption?

It's a very simple question, Lord Coe, yes or no.

Thank you.

Did you take political campaign advice from Papa Diack

when he was accused of corruption?

Yes or no, Lord Coe?

OK. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

The next day Lord Coe gave us a statement.

He says the suggestion he actively sought Papa Diack's advice is wrong.

He says lots of people offer advice, wanted or not, some

helpful, some not.

He says you try to be civil but wary, and this was the case

with Mr Diack, who sent messages of support whilst at the same time

supporting other candidates.

We'd also asked Lord Coe why he told MPs he was not aware of the specific

allegations of corruption, despite them being sent to his email

months before the scandal broke.

He says he was forwarded a number of emails and sent

them on to the IAAF's independent ethics commission,

who told him they were actively investigating and he therefore

left them to do so.

Nick Davies says he did not enlist the support of Papa Diack

and that his contact with him was at the request of the then

President Lamine Diack who assured him his

son was innocent.

Without the support of Papa Diack, Lord Coe may never have become

President of the IAAF.

This for me is the pinnacle.

It is my sport, my passion, the thing that I've

always wanted to do.

And there was a debt to be fulfilled, which was

paid - with flattery.

He will always be our spiritual president and he will certainly

be my spiritual president.

So, thank you, Lamine, for your help.

Sometimes in politics people probably are put in a position

where they're asked to do and say things in order to win support,

to win an election even if they're not always comfortable with it.

Maybe Lord Coe felt that he was in that position.

But what's absolutely clear is what the Diack family wanted

was Coe's endorsement, his support for their regime,

and for that to be made clearly and repeatedly and publicly,

and Lord Coe certainly delivered on that.

I think the sport has to look forward.

I think that's the biggest point here.

We can look back and criticise, we can look back and say things

should have been done differently.

The fact is Seb's at the steering wheel, the sport

is doing the clean-up, and we are looking forwards.

I hate to use the word, but he got in bed with the devil

to win the election and I don't mean to call Papa Diack the devil

but he was certainly in the middle of the investigation.

And if he makes a decision such as that, how can we trust him

with other decisions?

My bottom line is clean athletes deserve better.

Tomorrow Lord Coe will decide whether to ban Russian athletes

from the Rio Olympics.

He shouldn't have a choice.

Is Russia cooperating with your investigation?

A request for legal assistance has been sent to Russia

but we are still waiting.

When was that request sent?

At the beginning of the year.

So they're not cooperating?

We're still waiting.

You're hoping?

Always.

In Paris they may be waiting but in London the question

is being asked - is Lord Coe a man who can be trusted

with the future of athletics?

If he won't be drawn on the past and what he knew and can't come up

with a compelling argument for the way he conducted himself,

then I don't see how he could continue as President

of the IAAF because he would lack the public support to do so.

A month after Lord Coe's election as President,

and just weeks before Lamine Diack's arrest,

Lord Coe, Nick Davies

and the Diacks, father and son, gathered in Monaco.

Perhaps to celebrate a satisfactory succession.