(Reuters) – Albanian long jumper Izmir Smajlaj was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Friday along with two senior officials of his nation’s athletics body for allegedly breaching World Athletics’ Integrity Code of Conduct.
The Albanian federation’s president Gjegj Ruli and general secretary Nikolin Dionisi were charged along with Smajlaj for allegedly giving false information to the global body and the AIU for the result of an event held in Tirana in May 2021.
Smajlaj competed and placed first with a distance of 8.16 metres at the Dita E Kercimeve competition, which earned him a universality spot to compete in last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The independent AIU, which oversees integrity issues in international athletics, said the trio were charged for alleged breaches of rules relating to honesty, maintaining the integrity of competition, failure to report and complicity.
“The AIU’s mandate is to ensure clean and fair competition, and to hold anyone who may have breached the Integrity Code of Conduct accountable for their actions, including high-ranking officials,” AIU Head Brett Clothier said in a statement.
“Competition manipulation is a serious threat to the integrity of athletics and the AIU is committed to protecting our sport from it.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
