Outward appearances are that these are hard times for athletics: increasingly challenged by other sports, and damaged by doping, putting sponsorship and TV rights under threat.

European nations may well be in despair at emasculation of men's endurance runners and the now customary predictions of their eclipse at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh this weekend, yet athletics has never been better off, or more popular worldwide. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the widest pan-global sport, with 212 nations in membership. And Lamine Diack, its Senegalese president, flies into Edinburgh with the sport as secure as Edinburgh Castle, where he will dine tonight.

He says with justifiable pride that athletics has never been more financially secure.

Diack assumed presidency following the death of Italian Primo Nebiolo in 1999, and felt a key task was to secure a strong financial platform, to help global development.

"Primo was always anxious to have at least a year's operating budget in reserve, but never managed to achieve that goal," he told The Herald.

"Today, I'm happy to say we have not only achieved Primo's dream, but have about two and a half years' operating budget in reserve. This allows us to carry out a number of important projects which will help us maintain athletics as the No.1 Olympic sport. Most contracts are confidential, however I gladly confirm that our sponsorship sales are going very well. All sponsorship packages were sold at Osaka 2007 World track and field championships and revenues reached new heights last year. And at least six out of eight packages are already sold for the Berlin 2009 World Championships, where we expect to do very well.

"I am particularly pleased that we signed a Russian sponsor, VTB Bank, last year and a new title sponsor from Sweden, AF, just a few months ago. I am very confident we will sign more major corporations as partners. Negotiation is very advanced.

"In terms of television, we had almost 90% terrestrial penetration at Osaka, with exposure in over 170 territories. We were able to grow exposure in developing markets' such as China, Brazil, South Korea, and Australia, where audiences were at their best. Actually, thanks to the popularity of Olympic hurdles champion Lu Xiang - but not only - TV audiences in China have been growing steadily since the start of this decade. TV sales are going well for 2009. We also have record revenues from the International Olympic Committee, in terms of a share of their profits. That's something we certainly think we deserve, given our contribution to the success of the Olympic Games.

"If you add all this together, it's fair to say that reports of the death of athletics have been greatly exaggerated!

"What I do think it is fair to say though, is that emerging markets seem hungrier for athletics than the old heartland in Europe. We are working hard to address this, because Europe - especially Western Europe - is vital to the future success of athletics. But that needs massive work from member federations and the European Association, since the hardest thing to produce is world-class athletes. If you have world-class athletes, then TV, marketing, and media interest will flow from that."

The African threat to the traditional heartland of cross-country, exemplified by the course at Holyrood this weekend, was apparent long before a separate European cross-country championship was launched in 1994. Some countries now exclude foreign nationals from prize lists, to discourage African mercenaries. However, it seems to me that if you don't compete with the best, you are doomed to remain second best.

I put that to president Diack. "I think the biggest problem for cross-country in Europe is the amazing growth of road running over the past 20-30 years," he said. "It provides a more lucrative and attractive alternative for endurance runners. In the old days, we'd the Olympics every four years. Then, all that the IAAF organised was the World Cross and a Race Walking Cup. So obviously the World Cross was much more a must-do' competition.

"So we need to find a way to encourage more road runners to do cross country - something Paula Radcliffe can help us with, perhaps, as she has top honours in both disciplines. Top African runners seem able to combine road and cross. It's useful to try and learn from them.

"I am totally against talk of restricting African athletes in favour of Europeans, as this is totally against the spirit of sport. If East Africans are the best, then we should rejoice in this. Europeans need to get their heads down and try to beat them, in the way Paula Radcliffe did a few years ago.

I think the key is to learn from them: their training, nutrition, team ethos and above all, their motivation.

"What's overlooked by a lot of people is that it means a lot to a Kenyan or Ethiopian to do well in the World Cross. They see it as a major competition, and prepare accordingly. They don't see it as a second-class event which can be ignored. It's on a par with the Olympics or World Championships.

"I think British runners could return to success. I've a good memory of the likes of Ian Stewart and Tim Hutchings, and many others who were competitive at the highest level. In the old days, English, Welsh, and Scottish teams fighting it out helped build the tradition and status of this competition . . . the next challenge is to restore British competitiveness."

He dismissed speculation about a doping backlash by sponsors. He says the IAAF has escaped the potentially damaging impact of three US icons (Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, and Justin Gatlin) falling foul of the authorities; the high-profile Dwain Chambers affair in Britain; or defending Greek Olympic medallists Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou being exposed as serial avoiders of drug tests, charged with faking an accident to escape another on the eve of the Olympics in Athens.

"We have not had a single sponsor leave us because of doping, for the simple reason that we are totally sincere and hard-hearted about fighting it. We have zero tolerance, and all our sponsors acknowledge that it is not so much that a sport has a risk from doping - because all of them do - but how serious and honest are the governing body's efforts to clean it up. They tell us that as long as we fight as hard as we do, they will support us."

The IAAF recently was obliged to point out to Britain that they could not exclude Chambers form the GB team because he had fulfilled all obligations under international rules. However he insists this should not be interpreted as going soft on the issue. They have been lobbying the World Anti-Doping Agency "extremely hard" to have the penalty for a first serious offence doubled to four years. "So there's no doubt about our commitment to tightening up anti-doping regulations.

"Unfortunately though, we are bound to the WADA code. If we decide to pull out, and go it alone with our own sanctions, there will be consequences. First, you have to abide by the WADA code to participate in the Olympic Games. Secondly, if the IAAF impose rules that are tougher than the WADA code, we'll probably wind up going to court with every suspension we try to make. Having said that, WADA's code will now provide the possibility to impose a four-year sanction for aggravated circumstances'. So it's now up to the IAAF to see how far we can go to ensure that as many cases as possible in athletics can be considered in this way . . . We will continue to be the leading international federation in the fight against doping, and will continue to encourage others to share our zero tolerance.

"The IAAF spends approximately $2.8m annually on the fight against doping. That's more than any other federation. We do more out-of-competition tests the most efficient kind than any other federation: some 2000 a year. This is nearly double the number conducted by any other sport. We know the very large majority of our champions choose to compete drug-free. These athletes must become the role models for our sport, and they must be encouraged to speak out against cheats who tarnish their achievements."

However, he wants greater government support. "They hold powers that the IAAF does not - extensive investigation and criminal powers. Worldwide, they must get serious about this problem."