European media are reporting another leak of damning evidence in the investigation of doping in the Russian athletics federation.
The BBC and French newspaper Le Monde on December 21 reported a plot among international athletics officials to delay revealing the names of Russian doping cheats ahead of the 2013 World Championships.
The reports cite a July 2013 e-mail from Nick Davies, an official at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), discussing ways to keep Russian athletes using drugs out of the media until the event was over.
Davies reportedly sent the e-mail to the son of IAAF President Lamine Diack, both of whom are being investigated for corruption by French authorities.
In the e-mail, sent just weeks before Moscow hosted the championships, Davies said he needed to discuss "Russian skeletons in the cupboard" with the federation's anti-doping department.
The IAAF announced sanctions against 16 Russian athletes in the four months following the championships.
Davies said December 21 that his e-mail was "brainstorming around media handling strategies" and did not interfere with the federation's anti-doping process.
A pattern of widespread doping activities led to Russia's suspension from track and field competitions last month