Anti-doping chief Sir Craig Reedie believes Lord Coe can clean up athletics

THE Scot leading the fight against drugs in sport has brushed off comments that world athletics boss Sebastian Coe was ‘asleep on the job’.

President of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) Sir Craig Reedie told The Sunday Post he believed Seb Coe was the right man to get his troubled sport back on track despite his close links to some of those within the latest athletics drugs scandal.

Lord Coe, a vice-president of the IAAF for eight years before becoming its president in August, faced difficult questions this week during an interview on Channel Four News.

Coe’s apparently close relationship with Lamine Diack, his predecessor at IAAF currently under investigation by French police for allegedly taking money in return for covering up Russian drugs tests, has come under scrutiny.

Sir Craig said: “I don’t think complicit applies at all. These serious allegations about the IAAF only appeared in the media a few months ago. It’s easy to say he (Coe) or other people should have known, but known what? Everyone is supposed to know everything.

“Seb Coe and the new people on his council dealing with track and field understand the challenge that faces them. Seb is the man. I’ve worked with him very closely over many years.

“Athletics is in his blood. I saw when he took chairmanship of the London bid. When he turns his attention to something he can be extremely effective.”

Sir Craig Reedie (PA Archive)

Leading athletes have backed the decision of the IAAF Council to hand Russia a provisional ban from all international athletics competitions with immediate effect.

Members voted by a 22-1 majority in favour of the provisional sanction, which comes in the wake of damning revelations of cover-ups by the World Anti-Doping Agency last week.

In a statement issued on behalf of the IAAF Athletes Commission, former sprinter Frankie Fredericks said: “The IAAF Athletes’ Commission is extremely disappointed and concerned regarding the recent developments and allegations directed at our sport.

“We are angry at the damage being caused to the reputation and credibility of athletics and are united alongside our President to not shy away from the major challenges that face our sport.”

Lord Coe described the events leading up to the vote as a “shameful wake-up call” and conceded authorities including the IAAF and WADA had to “look closely at ourselves”.

Coe, who hosted the meeting via teleconference in London, said: “We discussed and agreed that the whole system has failed the athletes, not just in Russia, but around the world.”

Sir Craig admitted last week was one of his most difficult in sport.

“Thinking back, most of my busy weeks have been really good news as opposed to really bad news. The content of the report of the independent commission that we set up makes desperately bad reading.

“There is unbelievably bad behaviour from people at the top end of a major international sports federation. You begin to question what on earth is going on when that happens.

“What’s gone on at the IAAF is very damaging but it is so way out on limb, it’s a feeling of shock and horror more than anything.”

Despite the scale of what has been uncovered so far, and questions being asked of other countries Sir Craig said he believed the sport could be cleaned up.

“We have to take it as a step forward. We are in a position, with the sanctions that are available to us, to say to Russia: ‘if you don’t clean up your act, you don’t take part’. That’s quite a strong message.”

Looking ahead, he believes the scandal will not harm the future of the Olympic Games, and says the decision by Russia to allow some drugs cheats to compete at London 2012 did not ‘sabotage’ the games, as has been suggested.

“A couple of them won medals and that is regrettable in the extreme, but it didn’t sabotage one of the best Olympic Games of all time. It didn’t sabotage terrific stuff in cycling, rowing, gymnastics and so on.

“I think the Rio Games will be a success. The Olympic Games survived Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984 very well and have survived all sorts of things.”

The move to suspend Russian athletes was backed by Paula Radcliffe, herself the subject of unfounded suspicions earlier this year.

She tweeted: “The right decision, time for serious reform and proud to stand behind our Athlete Commission statement.”

The decision, which is almost certain to be made permanent by a disciplinary panel, will see Russia lose hosting rights to next year’s Race Walking World Cup and the World Junior Championships, due to take place in Cheboksary and Kazan respectively.

But while, as it stands, the sanction also rules Russia out of competing in next year’s Rio Olympic Games, early indications are that the Russians will accept their punishment and work towards fulfilling the criteria required in order to be reinstated in time.