Alberto Salazar says he believes in a clean sport and would never condone doping

Athletics coach Alberto Salazar has issued a lengthy statement in which he refutes the doping allegations made against him on a point-by-point basis.

Salazar, who coaches Britain’s dual Olympic gold medal winner Mo Farah, was the subject of allegations made in a BBC Panorama documentary which was broadcast on June 3 and made in association with the American-based investigative journalism organisation ProPublica.

In particular, the programme alleged that the Portland-based coach had overseen the use of banned substances by Galen Rupp, Farah's training partner and an Olympic silver medalist.

Salazar has repeatedly denied the allegations and has now released an open letter on the Nike Oregon Project website which runs to over 11,000 words.

Salazar said: “I believe in a clean sport and hard work and so do my athletes. I will never permit doping.

"At no time do we use science in violation of the WADA Code. We strictly adhere to competition and anti-doping rules at all times.

"I have not and will not condone any athlete I train using a banned substance and would never encourage any athlete to use a banned substance.

"We have worked very, very hard to achieve our successes and are proud of our accomplishments."

Under the guidance of Salazar, the 32-year-old Farah won the 5,000m-10,000m double at the London Olympics 2012 and Rupp took silver in the 10,000.

And the Cuban-born coach has worked as a consultant to UK Athletics for two years.

With regard to the specific allegations, Salazar said: "At best, they are misinformed. At worst, they are lying."

And he added: "I told both media outlets that their stories contained false information before they were published. I have now offered evidence that they are false.

"I hereby demand the BBC and ProPublica immediately publish a retraction of their false statements.

"I am saddened that these false allegations have been allowed to run with little care for the carnage in their wake. It is our reputations they have harmed.

"Some have tried to console me by saying public attacks like these are the price of success in today's world. That's not my world, that's not the Oregon Project. Here, success is earned with talent, hard work, dedication and fair
play, and that's how it is going to stay."

There is no suggestion that Farah himself has been involved in any wrongdoing but he has been questioned about his relationship with Salazar since the documentary was shown.

And the runner recently travelled to Oregon to meet Salazar and seek reassurances from the coach.

UK Athletics has issued a short statement saying it was aware of Salazar's letter, and that it would be passed on to the committee it set up to conduct a review of the allegations made against the coach. 

"UK Athletics acknowledges the publication of a statement by Alberto Salazar on the NOP website responding to claims made in the BBC Panorama programme 'Catch me if you can'," it read.

"The content of the statement will be referred to our Performance Oversight Group for consideration in their ongoing internal review.

"We emphasise once again that the Panorama programme contained no allegations against any British athletes, nor have any been made subsequently."

In response to Salazar's statement, a BBC spokesman said: "We are confident in our programme and that it was right to air the allegations of the witnesses who appeared on it.

"We stand by our journalism and it is now for the relevant anti-doping authorities to investigate the allegations.

"The detailed allegations were put to Mr Salazar four weeks before the programme aired, giving him the opportunity to address them in full.

"The BBC has also invited Alberto Salazar to be interviewed about the allegations, an offer which still stands. Almost two months after Mr Salazar was first made aware of the allegations, we welcome his more detailed response."