France Issues Arrest Warrants for Two Russian ex-Athletics Officials

W460

France has issued arrest warrants for two former senior Russian athletics officials in an investigation into a doping cover-up, sources told AFP on Tuesday.

The two men targeted are Valentin Balakhnichev, the former head of Russian athletics who was also treasurer of the International Association of Athletics Federations, and Alexei Melnikov, a former coach for the Russian national team.

In the same probe, French investigating magistrates issued a warrant in 2017 for Papa Massata Diack, son of former IAAF president Lamine Diack.

Massata Diack, or PMD as he is known, has been on Interpol's most wanted list since December 2015 but is sheltering in Dakar as the Senegalese government refuses to extradite him to France.

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