Diack, Russians challenge bans for blackmail plot at CAS

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) The Court of Arbitration for Sport aims to give verdicts within weeks after three track officials challenged IAAF life bans in a Russian doping and bribery scandal.

Hearings for Papa Massata Diack of Senegal and two Russians - former IAAF treasurer Valentin Balakhnichev and coach Alexei Melnikov - were held from Monday to Thursday.

CAS says none of the three came to Switzerland, with proceedings conducted by video conference.

Diack, the son of former IAAF president Lamine Diack, is subject to an Interpol request for his arrest. French investigators want to question him in a case that also implicates his father.

The IAAF's ethics panel imposed life bans in January over an alleged conspiracy to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova to avoid a doping ban.