Athletics chief Neil Black confident Britain’s Beijing team are clean

Athletics chief Neil Black is confident all members of the Great Britain squad competing at the World Championships are "100 per clean".

Black spoke out today on the eve of the nine-day event in Beijing, which will begin under a cloud following a series of doping claims.

Mo Farah, who himself has been dogged by drug allegations against his coach Alberto Salazar, will hope to get a British medal rush under way as favourite in the 10,000metres tomorrow.

"I couldn’t do my job unless I believed that," British Athletics performance director Black said when asked if he thought the 64 athletes in Britain’s squad for Beijing were all clean.

"So I’m as confident as I can be sitting here that that’s the case."

Asked if he felt the British team were competing on a level playing field, he added: "The relevant authorities are working on it, as we know. Whether things could have been done better, it’s not for me to necessarily know."

Black backed newly-appointed IAAF president Seb Coe as the right man to begin a wide-ranging clean-up of the sport.

He said: "It’s brilliant Seb has come into his role and I have huge confidence he will drive the changes necessary."