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Lord Coe to face select committee next month over athletics doping scandal

Lord Sebastian Coe
Image: Lord Coe is to be grilled by MPs next month

Lord Coe will appear before MPs on December 2 to answer questions on the handling of athletics' doping scandal and his links with sportswear firm Nike.

Coe, president of world athletics body the IAAF, is to give evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee.

Committee member Damian Collins has previously said he will ask Coe about his Nike ambassadorship and believes he should sever links with the company due to possible conflicts of interest.

Coe will also be quizzed about the IAAF's response to doping allegations, including the former Olympic 1500 metres champion's remark in August that investigations into suspicious blood results amounted to "a declaration of war on our sport".

He has since insisted he was only referring to stories which had tainted the reputation of clean athletes and he also said "rogue elements" may have infiltrated the IAAF following allegations that some officials took bribes to cover up positive tests.

However, British World Championships captain Martyn Rooney has questioned how much Coe, who served as the IAAF's vice-president under the now-suspended Lamine Diack for eight years, knew about the situation.

Martyn Rooney of Great Britain
Image: Martyn Rooney has branded Coe as 'naive'

"It is pretty disrespectful to believe the vice-president did not know what was going on within IAAF," Rooney told the BBC. "That is his job and if he believes he did not know what was going on he has not been doing his job properly.

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"Lord Coe is an icon for British athletes and has inspired generations but I felt he was a bit naive with his comments post the report.

"I want to believe he is the right person for the job. I feel he is strong and smart enough to be that person, it is just whether it is the best thing for athletics to have someone who was involved in the IAAF at that period still involved at the turnaround." 

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