World Athletics says its own employees stole about $1.75 million as part of a “systematic theft” scheme that lasted several years.
The organization that oversees track and field said Thursday that an internal audit discovered suspicious activity over a period of years and that it has handed over the case information to legal authorities in Britain and Monaco. World Athletics has its headquarters in Monaco.
People familiar with the case told The Associated Press two targets of the inquiry are former chief operating officer Vineesh Kochhar and former director of broadcast James Lord.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want their names used during an ongoing investigation.
The website 3wiresports first reported the news and the names of the targets of the investigation.
Neither Kochhar nor Lord returned messages left by the AP seeking comment.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe pledged to use “the full force of the law" to recover as much of the money as possible.
“Too many organizations brush incidents like this under the carpet, terminating employment with limited information which allows perpetrators to continue their scams and thefts within new organizations. We are not that type of organization,” Coe said.
“We have built a strong reputation for good governance, transparency and for defending what is right, even if it is sometimes a little uncomfortable. This is uncomfortable but it is important that we do the right thing.”
The sum World Athletics says was taken is equivalent to more than half of the $2.4 million it paid in prize money to gold medalists at last year's Paris Olympics, the first sport to do so. World Athletics said last month its total revenue for 2024 was $99.4 million, boosted by Olympic revenue.
Next year, the federation is rolling out the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, which will offer $10 million in prize money and $150,000 for winners.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
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