Life bans for Balakhnichev, Melnikov and Papa Diack (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – The former head of Russian athletics Valentin Balakhnichev, the country’s former head coach Aleksey Melnikov, and Papa Massata Diack, the son of the former IAAF President Lamine Diack, have all been banned from the sport for life over corruption charges. The IAAF Ethics Commission made the announcement on Thursday, also banning the organization’s former doping chief Gabrielle Dolle for five years, after all four men were found to have committed multiple breaches of anti-doping rules and been involved in the attempted cover up of positive drugs tests. …