Sebastian Coe accused of misleading inquiry into Russian doping

Sebastian Coe has today been accused of misleading a government inquiry about the extent to which he was aware of Russian doping in athletics.

Lord Coe, who is president of the IAAF, athletics’ world governing body, appeared before the department of digital, culture, media and sport select committee in December 2015 but they have cast doubt on his testimony. The former athlete said he had not been aware of any “specific allegations” about the corruption of anti-doping systems in Russia until he watched a revelatory documentary which aired on the German TV channel ARD in December 2014.

But his evidence was seemingly contradicted when another witness, Dave Bedford, appeared before the DCMS. Bedford, the former race director of the London Marathon, told MPs he made several attempts to tell Coe about a case involving the Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova.

He had heard of Shobukhova being extorted by the IAAF and Russian officials for $450,000 to cover up a positive drugs test. Bedford claimed to have made exhaustive attempts to warn Coe in August 2014, including a phone call, an email with an attachment detailing what had gone on, and text messages.


Source : theguardian