Leak says IAAF cleared Farah over doping

Mo Farah was one of almost 50 athletes suspected of doping by the world governing body before he was later cleared in follow-up tests, according to documents leaked last night.

A vast tranche of documents leaked by the Russian hacking group Fancy Bears shows Farah’s name among dozens of athletes flagged by the International Association of Athletics Federations for suspicious biological passports.

One document related to a doping test Farah gave on Nov 23, 2015, contains an entry next to it stating: “Likely doping; Passport suspicious: further data is required.”

However a later document, dated April 2016, appears to clear Farah of any suspicion, stating that he is “now flagged as normal”.

An IAAF spokesman said they were trying to ascertain whether the documents were authentic, while Farah’s spokeswoman refuted any wrongdoing.

There is no evidence of any offence but Farah’s coach Alberto Salazar remains under investigation by the United States Anti-doping Agency after a series of doping allegations.

Last night, a spokesman for Farah said: “It has been widely reported that previous leaks from this organisation have included false or altered documents, and we have asked the IAAF to urgently look into the validity.

“Regardless, any suggestion of misconduct is entirely false and seriously misleading. Mo Farah has been subject to many blood tests during his career and has never failed a single one. We have never been informed of any of Mo’s test results being outside of the legal parameters set by the relevant authorities, nor has Mo ever been contacted by the IAAF about any individual result.

“It is totally incorrect and defamatory to suggest otherwise, and we will pursue any claims to the contrary through all necessary legal routes.”

Meanwhile, Greg Rutherford looks unlikely to be able to defend his world long jump title in London next month as he struggles with injury. He has been attempting to regain fitness after damaging ankle ligaments while competing in Italy at the start of June.

Consigned to training on an exercise bike for a number of weeks, he had earmarked this Sunday’s Müller Anniversary Games as his comeback event, but has not progressed as hoped.