Russian rejects charges in athletics corruption row

A former Russian athletics chief on Saturday rejected allegations that his federation worked with top officials from the global IAAF federation to try to blackmail athletes in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. The charges were the latest involving the Olympics showcase sport, which scrapped its year-end gala on Friday after French officials began investigating the former president of athletics' ruling body for corruption. It is the second global sporting federation to face allegations of corrupti