French judges today adjourned the trial of Lamine Diack, the disgraced former head of Athletics’ Governing Body IAAF who faces charges of corruption and money laundering linked to a Russian doping scandal.

Less than an hour after the hearing began, the trial was halted for procedural reasons and postponed until an unknown date.

The trial’s opening came five years after prosecutors began their investigation into Diack, from Senegal, who now lives under house arrest in Paris.

Investigators have described a web of corruption that was rife in world athletics, including bribes and extortion to cover up positive drug tests.

Diack, has denied wrongdoing. His lawyers said the accusations were baseless.

The trial had been expected to last two weeks. But prosecutors sought the adjournment after receiving several lengthy documents today from the Senegalese judiciary.

They include the transcript from a November interrogation of Papa Massata and bank documents.

Money laundering alone carries a jail term of up to 10 years in France.

Sebastian Coe, Diack’s successor, has undertaken to rebuild trust in athletics and introduced changes to the sport’s governance.