HIBAPRESS – Sports
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced the loss of more than 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million) due to a "systematic theft" allegedly involving its employees.
The IAAF clarified on Thursday that it had submitted detailed information about the case to the "competent judicial and legal authorities for criminal investigation" after an audit revealed suspicious activity over several years, adding that it had terminated the contracts of an employee and a consultant, while another employee had already left. The federation, based in Monaco, did not reveal the names of the suspects in the theft and did not specify which state authorities it was in contact with. Sources familiar with the case, who declined to be identified, told the Associated Press that those targeted in the investigation were Vinish Kochhar, the former Chief Operating Officer, and James Lord, the former Director of Broadcasting. The website Three Wires Sports was the first to publish the news and the names of those targeted in the investigation. Kochhar and Lord did not respond to messages from the Associated Press requesting comment on the events. Sebastian Coe, the British president of the IAAF, pledged to use "the full force of the law" to recover as much money as possible. Coe said: “Many organizations ignore such incidents and terminate the services of employees with limited information, allowing the perpetrators to continue fraud and theft within new organizations. We are not that kind of organization.” The IAAF president confirmed, "We have built a solid reputation in the field of good governance, transparency, and defending the right, even if it is a bit annoying sometimes, but it is important to do the right thing.” The amount, which the IAAF revealed was stolen, is more than half of the $2.4 million it paid out in prize money to the winners of the gold medals at last year's Paris Olympics, which was the first sport to take that step. Last month, the IAAF announced that its total revenue for 2024 was $99.4 million, supported by Olympic revenues. Next year, the federation plans to launch the World Athletics Finals, which will see prize money of $10 million and $150,000 for the winners.
