IAAF boss admits athletics faces 'crisis' over alleged doping by Russians

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack has revealed that the sport is facing a 'crisis' on account of widespread doping allegations by Russian competitors.

Earlier, a German TV documentary claimed that as many as 99 percent of Russian athletes were guilty of doping, adding that Russian officials systematically accepted payment from athletes to supply banned substances and cover up tests.

Reflecting on the allegations, Diack said that it was a difficult crisis but they would put it behind them by cleaning all this, adding that they had to be absolutely clear that their athletes were 90 to 95 percent clean, the BBC reported.

Rejecting the claims as lies, Diack, however, said that he couldn't accept that somebody came and said in Russia it was 99 percent cheating.

Diack further said that if it was demonstrated that cheating was organised in Russia, they have to take action as their job was to clean all this, the report added.