Sport

Farah coach Salazar claims his accusers are ‘knowingly making false statements’

‘I have said all along that I believe in a clean sport’

Mo Farah, whose coach Alberto Salazar is to refute doping claims so that his athletes “can focus on what they love”. Photograph: Barry Coombs/PA
Sean Ingle
Wed Jun 10 2015 - 01:00

Mo Farah's coach Alberto Salazar has broken his silence to say he will show that his accusers are "knowingly making false statements" and says he denies "all allegations of doping".

Salazar has kept his counsel since issuing a statement denying allegations made by the BBC and the US news website ProPublica. But it is understood that he has been preparing a detailed riposte to the allegations, which include claims that he gave his athlete Galen Rupp, who finished second to Farah in the 10,000m at the London 2012 Olympics, the anabolic steroid testosterone when he was still at high school.

Salazar reiterated his view that the BBC and ProPublica allegations were inaccurate, unfounded, and had unfairly damaged him and his athletes. “I have said all along that I believe in a clean sport, hard work and I deny all allegations of doping,” he added. “The BBC and ProPublica have engaged in inaccurate and unfounded journalism, with a complete lack of regard for both Galen and Mo.”

In a statement to the Guardian, Salazar, who heads the prestigious Nike Oregon Project where Farah trains, said: "Given the time and effort the BBC and ProPublica committed to making these false allegations I hope that media and fans will afford me a short time to show the accusers are knowingly making false statements. I will document and present the facts as quickly as I can so that Galen and Mo can focus on doing what they love and have worked so hard to achieve."

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The BBC and ProPublica also claimed that Salazar, who has worked as a consultant for British Athletics since 2013, is said to have mentored Rupp to help him flout strict rules about using intravenous drips.

Kara Goucher, the 10,000m world championship bronze medallist who trained at the Oregon Project until 2013, said Salazar had coached Rupp to try to get a therapeutic use exemption for an intravenous drip before the 2011 world championships.

The BBC documentary claimed that six other people who were associated with the Oregon Project have spoken privately to the United States Anti-Doping Agency with concerns about alleged illicit practices and unethical behaviour. – Guardian service