Lord Coe has backed Mo Farah's decision to stay with coach Alberto Salazar
Last Updated: 03/07/15 6:24pm
IAAF vice-president Lord Coe has backed Mo Farah's decision to stay with coach Alberto Salazar.
Britain’s double Olympic champion has opted to continue his relationship with Salazar despite the recent doping allegations regarding the coach.
A number of accusations were made against Salazar in a recent BBC Panorama programme made in collaboration with US journalism organisation ProPublica, notably that he was involved in doping US runner Galen Rupp, training partner of Farah’s, in 2002 at the Nike Oregon Project in Portland.
There is no suggestion Farah has broken any rules and Salazar has since issued a lengthy rebuttal of the allegations in a 12,000-word open letter.
Farah also spoke to Sky Sports News HQ earlier this week and said he was 100 per cent clean as an athlete and that he would only sever ties with Salazar if the allegations of doping athletes could be proven - a stance which has been supported by Coe.
Coe told Sky Sports News HQ: "The relationship between an athlete and a coach is probably one of the closest bonds you are going to have in any relationship and that can only be based on mutual trust and unflinching respect.
"And if Mo has made the judgement that the answers that he has had from Alberto - and goodness me, it was a 12,000-word document, it was 28 pages of answers - then I think we have to back Mo's judgement on this. He has made the judgement that he wants Alberto to continue to coach him and I think we should back that judgement.
"I think if you spoke to Alberto, he would tell you that he has answered all those accusations. In fact, the people that made the accusations haven't actually come back and challenged the rebuttal so I think that most of us in the sport are still waiting to see how those that made those accusations are going to respond to the rebuttal.
"But I think the broader point is that Mo had made his judgement and I think we have to back him."
