MPs PILE PRESSURE ON COE
LORD COE has received a written request from MPs to release an email exchange that could yet prove that he DiD read the explosive corruption allegations sent to him by David Bedford.
Damian Collins MP, chairman of the select committee Bedford appeared before earlier this week, has accused Coe of reneging on an agreement to provide further evidence to the Westminster inquiry into doping in sport.
Coe’s position as the president of the iAAF is under fresh scrutiny after he declined a request on Tuesday to reappear before MPs.
Evidence provided by Bedford appeared to contradict the double Olympic champion’s claims about how little he knew of corruption at the highest level of his sport before rising to power.
Bedford confirmed to MPs the details of an email he sent to Coe in August 2014, which was later uncovered as part of a joint investigation by Sportsmail and BBC
Panorama last June. The email contained an attachment about an extortion racket involving senior officials at the organisation Coe now leads.
Coe had told MPs he forwarded the email to Michael Beloff QC, head of the iAAF ethics commission, without even opening it.
Bedford, the former London marathon boss, also revealed how Coe did not respond to his further attempts to contact the then vicepresident of the iAAF via a phone call, email and text messages.
Collins has called on Coe to reappear before the select committee by the end of this month. Coe, however, has used his privilege as a member of the House of Lords to reject the request.
Collins told Sportsmail yesterday he had now written to Coe asking that he provide the full exchange of emails with Beloff.
The initial email Bedford sent to Coe contained a warning that senior figures close to former iAAF president Lamine Diack had forced Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova to pay £360,000 to conceal a positive drug test.
The Culture, Media and Sport select committee believe they were sent an incomplete exchange between Coe and Beloff after Coe gave evidence to MPs towards the end of 2015.
Collins (right) said yesterday: ‘i’ve written to Lord Coe asking him to release the full exchange of emails with Michael Beloff. Clearly he contacted Michael Beloff by email before he forwarded the Bedford email and it would be interesting to know if he discussed the allegations with him before sending it.’ Coe said on Tuesday, in a statement issued by the iAAF, that there was ‘nothing new’ in Bedford’s evidence. But Collins responded: ‘i think Lord Coe would be well advised to address the issues that have arisen from the Bedford evidence.
‘it’s not true that there was nothing new in it and Lord Coe should now explain what he said to the committee a little over a year ago.’
Collins said Coe’s position had shifted since Bedford’s appearance in Westminster on Tuesday, which prompted the committee chairman to declare that there were ‘clear and important questions’ for him to answer. Other committee members described Coe’s lack of curiosity about the corruption as ‘extra- ordinary’, ‘lethargic’ and ‘wilfully ignorant’.
Collins added: ‘Before Christmas he said the only reason he could not come in before the end of the year was because of iAAF commitments. But at that stage he indicated he would be prepared to provide more written evidence.
‘The indication yesterday (Tuesday), however, was that he is no longer prepared to do that.’
Bedford told MPs that he was ‘surprised and quite disappointed’ to read that a spokeswoman for Coe had told Sportsmail he never opened the email but was guilty only of a ‘lack of curiosity’. UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner responded to the furore yesterday by urging Coe and Collins to resolve the situation face to face.
‘it would be helpful for the pair to get in a room together privately and thrash out what they need to do to take it away from the showboating of these parliamentary hearings,’ said Warner.
‘ This would give them the perfect opportunity to speak together about what could be done in the UK to focus on the anti-doping fight.’