The son of the former head of the world athletics body, Lamine Diack, said his father's conviction and four-year prison sentence handed down in France was a "denial of justice."

Papa Massata Diack was also convicted by the Paris court in absentia and sentenced to five years.

Speaking from Dakar, he condemned the judicial proceedings while addressing journalists.

He fled to Senegal after an investigation was opened in France. Senegal declined to extradite him after an international arrest warrant.

"We have not committed any crime that deserves jail time. Lamine Diack's integrity has never been lacking," he said. "What happened in Paris was a denial of justice."

"It's a judicial war at all levels, I think the truth will come out. I can assure my compatriots that we have not committed any crime that deserves jail time," he said.

Diack's father was president of the IAAF, now known as World Athletics, from 1999-2015.

Prosecutors said Lamine Diack directly or indirectly solicited 3.45 million euros (3.9million usd) in bribes from athletes, many of them Russian, to cover up their positive doping tests.

Papa Massata Diack worked under his father as a consultant for the athletics body and is accused of siphoning off millions of dollars from sponsorship deals.

"We are facing a media lynching coming from Germany, England, France mainly, and from the United States and Canada," he said.