In the wake of the investigation into the IAAF, evidence has surfaced that IAAF Deputy General Secretary Nick Davies planned to delay the naming of Russian drug cheats since as early as 2013. 

An email uncovered from French newspaper Le Monde revealed that Davies was aware of Russian doping cases covered up by the IAAF since 2013. The email shows evidence that Davies was attempting to develop a PR communication strategy to ensure that the cases would receive minimal media coverage. 

The email from Davies is addressed to Papa Massata Diack, the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack. Both father and son are currently under investigation after French authorities arrested the elder Diack in November on charges of corruption and money-laundering. 

Papa Massata Diack worked as the IAAF marketing consultant at the time of the email, which was sent in July 19, 2013, days before the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. 

“This must be very top secretÂ…as soon as possible, and ‘unofficiallyÂ’ PR campaign to Ensure That We AVOID international media scandals related to the Moscow Championships Especially in the British press, Where the worst of the items is coming from…” Davies wrote to Diack in a portion of the email. 

The message continues by expressing his ideas to avoid a “planned attack on Russia from the British press in the coming weeks” by utilizing CoeÂ’s political influence in the United Kingdom. 

Davies requested to “sit down with the Anti-Doping department and understand exactly what Russian ‘skeletonÂ’ we have still in the cupboard regarding doping.” 

The email continues by saying that they need to be “smart” while unveiling Russian athletes that should have been outed a long time ago. He also urges then-Russian federation president Valentin Balakhnichev to prevent any of those athletes from competing at Worlds. 

“These athletes, of course, should NOT be part of any Russian team for these World Championships and Valentin should be pressured to make sure this is the case,” Davies wrote. 

“If the guilty ones are not competing then we might as well wait until the event is over to announce them. Or we announce one or two BUT AT THE SAME TIME as athletes from other countries,” he continued. 

Davies ended the exchange by saying “I will do everything in my power to protect the IAAF and the President.”

Davies responded to Le Monde about the news of the email by saying that “no plan was put in place following this email and there is absolutely no possibility that a strategy or a media plan/PR may interfere with the anti-doping procedure.”

Since the elder DiackÂ’s arrest, the IAAF has been under intense investigation. Most recently, Diack confessed to asking the Russian federation for over $1.5 million to fund the political opposition in his native Senegal. 

The governing body also provisionally suspended Russia from all international competition following the World Anti-Doping AgencyÂ’s investigative report that revealed systematic, state-sponsored doping practices in Russia.