Sir Mo Farah's former coach banned for doping violations – Sky News, Sky.com

             

Sir Mo Farah’s former coach has been banned for four years after being found guilty of doping violations.

Alberto Salazar, 61, coached the British athlete to four Olympic gold medals before the pair parted ways in 2017.

The US anti-doping agency (USADA) confirmed multiple track and field athletes had been involved in the scandal.

It said Salazar violated anti-doping rules by trafficking or attempting to traffic testosterone , administering a prohibited method and tampering or attempting to tamper with anti-doping procedures.

Some of the methods banned by USADA include blood doping, artificially increasing oxygen levels, tampering with samples, intravenous infusions or injections and gene doping.

Salazar and his Nike Oregon Project, a prestigious running training group, had been under investigation by USADA.

A paid physician at the Nike Oregon Project, Dr Jeffrey Brown, also received a four -year ban for tampering with records, administering an intravenous infusion over the maximum limit and being complicit in Salazar’s testosterone trafficking.

There are no allegations against Sir Mo Farah.

The investigation has involved testimony from anonymous whistleblowers, as well as emails and patient records, which were seen during two week-long hearings.

“The athletes in these cases found the courage to speak out and ultimately exposed the truth,” said USADA chief executive officer Travis Tygart.

He added: “While acting in connection with the Nike Oregon Project, Mr Salazar and Dr Brown demonstrated that winning was more important than the health and wellbeing of the athletes they were sworn to protect. “

Sir Mo Farah was part of the Nike Oregon Project between 2011 and 2017 but left the training group following the accusations against Salazar.

He did not publicly cite the allegations as a reason for the split.

Sir Mo has previously denied being involved in doping, telling Reporters in 2017: “You can write what you like, I’m a clean athlete and as long as I understand that I sleep well at night.”

In an emotional press conference, he said: “It’s like I have achieved what I have achieved and you are trying to destroy it.”

“You guys, so many times towards me , you have been unfair. I don’t know why. “

Nike and British Athletics have been contacted by Sky News for comment.