Former Russian Athletics Federation President Valentin Balakhnichev has not appealed against a three-year prison sentence for corruption handed to him in the Paris Criminal Court last month ©Getty Images

Former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Lamine Diack and his son, Papa Massata, have both lodged appeals against convictions they received in a court in Paris last month for corruption, but former Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) head Valentin Balakhnichev has not challenged his sentence.

Balakhnichev, President of RusAF between 1990 and 2015, was absent from the Paris Criminal Court when the verdicts were announced, and he was given a three-year prison sentence in absentia.

The 71-year-old Russian official, banned from athletics for life in 2016, was alleged to have refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Balakhnichev, also the former treasurer of the IAAF, was alleged to have negotiated financial kickbacks with Diack.

The kickbacks reportedly helped cover-up positive drugs tests involving Russian athletes.

Following the sentence, Balakhnichev told Russia’s official state news agency TASS that he "will deal with the appeal of the decision".

He had vowed to "appeal to the Supreme Court of France, the Court for Human Rights".

Balakhnichev dismissed claims he had refused to cooperate and told TASS: "I do not consider myself guilty".

The court also ordered the confiscation of €1,895,374 (£1,711,398/$2,208,645) that Balakhnichev had in a bank account in Monte Carlo.

The decision not to appeal means that Balakhnichev is in danger of being arrested if he leaves Russia and enters a country that is a member of the European Union or has an extradition agreement with France.

Valentin Balakhnichev, left, was the former treasurer of IAAF and was allegedly involved in a scheme with Lamine Diack, right, to cover up the doping tests involving Russian athletes ©Getty Images
Valentin Balakhnichev, left, was the former treasurer of IAAF and was allegedly involved in a scheme with Lamine Diack, right, to cover up the doping tests involving Russian athletes ©Getty Images

Balakhnichev’s compatriot, Alexei Melnikov, the former head distance coach of the Russian national team, has also not appealed.

He was found guilty of passive bribery charges and given a two-year prison sentence.

Diack, who led athletics' worldwide governing body from 1999 to 2015, was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of corruption by the French court.

He was also given a further two years of suspended jail time and fined €500,000 (£454,000/$580,000).

The 87-year-old was convicted on several corruption charges but found not guilty of "organised money laundering."

His son Papa Massata, who refuses to be extradited from Senegal, was convicted, and jailed for five years in absentia.

The former marketing consultant at the IAAF, now called World Athletics, was also fined €1 million (£902,000/$1.2 million).

Papa Massata was found to have siphoned off $15 million (£11.5 million/€12.5 million), including commissions, from television contracts and the sale of rights, to his companies while his father led the IAAF.

Both Lamine and Papa Massata Diack were also ordered to pay World Athletics €5 million (£4.6 million/$5.9 million) in damages for breach of trust.

Gabriel Dollé, the former head of anti-doping at the IAAF, and Lamine Diack's advisor Habib Cisse, who was also found guilty in Paris, have also appealed.