Mo Farah blasts Haile Gebrselassie over hotel 'theft'

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Sir Mo Farah says he had money and a watch stolen from him on his birthday in Ethiopia while training for Sunday's London Marathon.

Mo Farah has criticised Haile Gebrselassie for not contacting him after the Briton said items were stolen from his room at a hotel owned by the Ethiopian running legend last month.

The Briton was staying at Gebrselassie's Yaya Africa Athletics Village near the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa when he says belongings were stolen from his locked suitcase while he was out training for Sunday's London Marathon.

Farah says Gebrselassie failed to respond to his pleas for help following the incident, with the multiple Olympic champion claiming £2,500 in cash and a 'sentimental' watch gifted to him by his wife had been taken.

Retired athlete Haile Gebrselassie is the owner of the hotel Farah was staying at when the alleged theft occurred

"The robbery happened on my birthday, when I went for an early morning Sunday run," Farah said at his pre-marathon press conference on Wednesday.

"We left at 5.30am with my coach and training partners and I gave my key to reception so they could clean.

"When I came back about 4.30pm I noticed my bag was open. But I then saw it was locked and [the room] had been broken into. Someone's got the key from reception, opened [the room door] up, took my money, took my nice watch that my wife got me and two phones. The watch was sentimental, it can't be replaced."

Despite confirming that he "couldn't have asked for better" with regards to his overall training experience, Farah remains incensed at his fellow Olympic champion's failure to respond to multiple messages.

Farah will compete in the London Marathon on Sunday

"The hotel wasn't going to do nothing so I called the police, they came over, took stuff, went away, then said they arrested five guys but they got released again," Farah said.

"Then I sent Haile a message to tell him what had happened but he didn't reply. He didn't say anything. He didn't respond even though that's his hotel.

"One of the guys from the hotel called him because I said I wanted to speak to him and he said: 'We're working on it. We got two lawyers to look into it. I don't care about the money, just get my watch. Towards the end they said they were going to get my stuff, so I left it two and a half weeks - I knew nothing was coming out so I texted Haile."

Gebrselassie's agent has indicated the Ethiopian will respond to Farah's claims.