The British anti-doping agency UKAD has criticized the athletics association UK Athletics. The reason is the association’s handling of an internal report from 2015 on the cooperation of world-class runner Mo Farah with the coach Alberto Salazar, who has been suspended for doping.
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The Performance Monitoring Committee (POC), which prepared the report, concluded in 2015 that despite the BBC reports of possible doping offenses, there was “no concern” about continued Farah and Salazar cooperation. The British runner was part of the Nike Oregon Project built by Salazar from 2011 to 2017. Farah, four-time Olympic gold medalist, has consistently rejected doping allegations.
Anti-Doping Agency only got one PowerPoint file
“We have repeatedly asked UK Athletics to share this POC report with us in its entirety as it may contain information that may be of interest to us,” UKAD managing director Nicole Sapstead has now been quoted as saying. Recently, however, only a summary was received. The “Guardian” reports that it was a PowerPoint file. The report may contain sensitive medical information.
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“We remind UKA that it is bound by the national anti-doping policy,” Sapstead was further quoted in the UKAD statement: “We now call on the UKA again to fully support the report, including any related support Reports and documents to be handed over. “
A spokesman for UK Athletics said the Guardian said it had taken five years to publish the summary because it had to get approval from several sides. The association had complied with its obligations.
New report criticizes the 2015 Committee’s lack of independence
On Friday, UK Athletics released a new 130-page independent report reviewing Salazar’s collaboration with the British Athletics Association. Among other things, the report criticized the lack of minutes of meetings discussing Farah-Salazar cooperation. In addition, the 2015 committee may have lacked independence.
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The new report released on Friday was commissioned last November because Salazar had previously been banned for four years for doping offenses. He was not only Farah’s coach, but also a UK Athletics consultant at times. Salazar has always denied the allegations and wants to take action against his ban.
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