British distance runner Mo Farah, who won the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the World Championships, is nominated for the athlete of the year award.
Among others, Farah is joined on the list by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, who claimed the 100m and 200m sprint double in Beijing and Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers, who won 200m gold and 100m silver.
The gala is run by the IAAF’s own charitable foundation and Coe had to ask the foundation to cancel it, as it is not under the IAAF’s control.
Diack remains under investigation by French prosecutors, with the 82-year-old under suspicion of receiving money in 2011 in return for deferring sanctions against Russian athletes who failed drug tests.
Diack, who was IAAF president from 1999 to August of this year, is yet to comment on the allegations.
Meanwhile, four men, including the son of former president Lamine Diack, have been charged by the IAAF with breaching its code of ethics.
