Fredericks grilled over ‘graft’ probe

Vote buying

PARIS, Nov 2, (AFP): Former world champion sprinter Frankie Fredericks appeared before a Paris judge on Thursday as part of a probe into graft allegations over the awarding of the 2016 Olympics to Rio.

Fredericks, an International Olympics Committee (IOC) member, received $299,300 (262,000 euros) from Papa Massata Diack, son of ex-International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack, on Oct 2, 2009 — the day Brazil won the bid.

The IOC said in July that it was cooperating with French authorities investigating the allegations against the Namibian former 200m world champion and four-time Olympic silver medallist.

The 50-year-old stepped down in March as head of the committee evaluating bids to host the 2024 Olympics after the corruption allegations were reported in French media.

Fredericks insists that the payments were received for promotional services provided between 2007 and 2011 under a contract signed on March 11, 2007, and had nothing to do with the Olympics.

The payment was first revealed by French newspaper Le Monde.

Fredericks released a statement at the time, saying: “I categorically deny any direct or indirect involvement in any untoward conduct and confirm that I have never breached any law, regulation or rule of ethics in respect of any IOC election process.”

French investigators are looking into the possibility that bribes were paid over the awarding of both the 2016 Olympics to Rio and the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The IAAF provisionally suspended Fredericks from its ruling council on July 17 as it launched a probe into the graft allegations against him.

In March, Fredericks had also stepped down from an IAAF task force working on getting dopingtainted Russia back into global sport.

Papa Massata and Lamine Diack also face charges in France over millions of dollars paid to cover up doping failures by Russian athletes.

Brazilian authorities are also conducting an investigation into vote buying in the attribution of the 2016 Games to Rio.