The Ethics Board of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has decided against opening a formal investigation into claims Qatari officials had been paying bribes in a bid to secure hosting rights for the 2017 World Championships, supporting the stance of president Sebastian Coe on the matter.
Ed Warner, chairman of the UK Athletics governing body, said an investigation was underway during a British parliamentary committee hearing regarding the athletics doping scandal, which was held in January.
Doha lost out in the race to stage the 2017 Championships, which were awarded to London, but the Qatari capital was subsequently successful in securing the hosting rights to the 2019 edition of the IAAF’s showpiece event after defeating rival bids from Barcelona and Eugene in November 2014.
A statement released by the ethics board read: “The ethics board has now collated the responses to those enquiries, which were substantial in number. To date, none of the respondents have had any relevant evidence corroborative of Mr Warner’s recollection or relevant to the alleged factual matters the subject of the purported rumour.
“As a result of its preliminary investigations, and noting that there is no documentary evidence to corroborate Mr Warner’s recollection, the ethics board does not consider that it has sufficient evidence at present to open, under its procedural rules, a formal investigation.
“In response to enquiries made of him by the board, Lord Coe has stated that he has no recollection of hearing such a rumour or therefore of communicating it to Mr Warner.”
The IAAF have vowed to monitor the matter for new developments.
Ed Warner, chairman of the UK Athletics governing body, said an investigation was underway during a British parliamentary committee hearing regarding the athletics doping scandal, which was held in January.
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| Lord Sebastian Coe, IAAF President |
A statement released by the ethics board read: “The ethics board has now collated the responses to those enquiries, which were substantial in number. To date, none of the respondents have had any relevant evidence corroborative of Mr Warner’s recollection or relevant to the alleged factual matters the subject of the purported rumour.
“As a result of its preliminary investigations, and noting that there is no documentary evidence to corroborate Mr Warner’s recollection, the ethics board does not consider that it has sufficient evidence at present to open, under its procedural rules, a formal investigation.
“In response to enquiries made of him by the board, Lord Coe has stated that he has no recollection of hearing such a rumour or therefore of communicating it to Mr Warner.”
The IAAF have vowed to monitor the matter for new developments.
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