‘Give athletics some kudos - my sport is not in tatters’ - Seb Coe on DCMS committee report on combatting doping | London Evening Standard

‘Give athletics some kudos - my sport is not in tatters’ - Seb Coe on DCMS committee report on combatting dopingIAAF President Seb CoeGetty Images for IAAF

I’ve read the DCMS committee report on combatting doping in sport, and what it essentially comes down to is whether I’m a reader of emails or not. And the truth is I’m not an assiduous reader of emails.

I sat in front of the select committee for well over three hours when I was asked to appear, going through the processes by which we, the IAAF, follow such procedures. And I then responded to further questions by the committee notably about Dave Bedford.

Everything back then that I received in any shape or form was directly sent to the ethics board, and I played a role in creating that body.

That ethics board has now been replaced by the Athletics Integrity Unit, which is entirely independent, and I think I’m confident in saying is unique in sport. Again with that, very similar rules and processes apply.

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We’ve collaborated with a lot of different groups, and formed reasonable dialogue with many of them, some publicly and some behind closed doors. As with others, we will properly absorb this report as we always do and, if we can learn from this things that we can do better, that’s great to move this great sport forward.

But for the next two days, I will be chairing our IAAF Council meetings, and they won’t be about dwelling on the past at all but instead looking towards the future.

And for me personally on this issue, apologies, but there’s a point beyond where there’s not much more I can say on this than I’m not reading emails. I feel I’ve done that.

Seb Coe responds to DCMS committee report on combatting doping in Sport Photo: AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images

As for the broader idea that athletics is in tatters as a result of this, that gives little kudos to what we’ve been doing the past two years.

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The IAAF takes the fight against doping very seriously. We’ve made a set of wide-sweeping reforms to revamp the governance of the sport, made 200 changes to its constitution and set up the aforementioned integrity unit. Plus, there is the ongoing suspension of the Russian Member Federation.

So, frankly I didn’t see athletics in tatters at the World Championships in London last summer nor did I at the World Indoors in Birmingham the past week.