Coach arrested in drugs raid attends Diamond League
Athletics authorities were embarrassed last night when a highprofile coach arrested in a drugs raid was allowed trackside at the Doha Diamond League and socialised with officials in the main athletes’ hotel.
Jama Aden, who has links with Mo Farah and coaches 1500 metres world-record holder Genzebe Dibaba, was led away in handcuffs when police burst into his group’s hotel in Sabadell, Spain, last June and found erythropoietin (EPO) in the room of one of his physiotherapists.
Spanish media also reported police seeing Aden put plastic bags of used needles into rubbish bins outside the hotel, which the coach later claimed were “injections that I use for myself ”.
A Spanish judge initially ordered Aden to surrender his passport for 30 days while the investigation continued, but almost a year after the arrest – which marked the culmination of a three-year investigation – he remains on bail and has retained his close ties to the Qatar Athletics Federation.
Aden has always denied committing any doping violations, but International Association of Athletics Federations officials are embarrassed by the brazen manner in which he conducted himself at the opening Diamond League meeting of the season.
Aware of the doping scandals engulfing the sport, it is understood that the athletics governing body may act independently of the Spanish authorities should criminal charges not be brought against Aden in the near future. Organising or promoting doping is a criminal offence in Spain, where culprits face up to two years in prison.
“Since the police raid on June 20, 2016, the Spanish authorities have been conducting a criminal investigation,” said an IAAF spokesman. “While this case is ongoing we will not comment further at this time beyond stating that the IAAF reserves full rights to initiate disciplinary proceedings and to impose provisional suspension on the individuals involved at any time.”
At the time of the arrest, British Athletics put out a statement insisting that Farah was no longer associated with Aden, who it had previously described as an “unofficial facilitator” after it emerged that he was present at some of fellow Somali-born Farah’s sessions in Ethiopia in 2015.
Farah’s representatives denied he had ever had a relationship with the coach and there is no suggestion the Briton has committed any doping offence.
Aden’s presence had little effect on Dibaba’s performance last night, with the Ethiopian finishing fifth in the first 800m of her career as Olympic champion Caster Semenya cruised to victory.
Her fellow South African Akani Simbine struck an early blow in the battle to replace Usain Bolt as the world’s No 1 sprinter with victory in the 100 m.
With Bolt retiring from the sport after this summer’s London World Championships, Simbine beat a field that included Justin Gatlin and Andre De Grasse – respectively Rio Olympic silver and bronze medallists – in 9.99sec, his sixth sub10-second run of the year.
The performance of the night belonged to German Thomas Röhler, who launched the javelin 93.90m to go second on the all-time list with the longest throw in 20 years.