Black had hoped to continue as the UKA performance director until the Tokyo Olympics PANeil Black had hoped to lead UK Athletics until next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games but the organisation’s performance director has become its first major casualty of the Alberto Salazar scandal. Black’s consistent defence of Mo Farah’s coach against serious doping allegations made his position at the head of the body untenable. Last week Salazar was banned for four years for drugs violations as a result of an investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada). Given his refusal to acknowledge the legitimate concerns about Farah’s relationship with Salazar and the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), UKA was left with no choice but to axe him. A press release issued yesterday afternoon by the governing body stated only that Black, 60, would stand down at the end…

Source: The Times October 08, 2019 16:09 UTC