Paula’s husband in hot water over dual role as agent

UK atHLEtICS have received a complaint about Gary Lough, the husband of paula radcliffe, with a demand to know how he can act as an unauthorised agent while attending British team training camps as a coach.

the complaint, seen by Sportsmail and sent to UKa chief executive Niels de Vos by a British coach and former olympian, raises concern about a possible ‘conflict of interest’ when Lough ranks new 800m sensation Kyle Langford among his five clients — not to mention a breach of UKa regulations that could yet lead to sanctions for the athletes themselves.

a spokesman for UK athletics confirmed that De Vos had received the complaint and would be addressing the situation once the world Championships in London have finished.

UKa must examine whether Lough is in breach of their own regulations when he is not registered as an agent. Last night Lough confirmed he represented Langford and four other athletes but blamed an ‘admin error’ and said he ‘hadn’t filled out a form’, having informed the governing body last year that he was becoming an athlete representative.

the UKa regulations are clear. rule 7 S 1 (3) states: ‘No athlete is permitted to use the services of any athletes’ representative not authorised by UKa and any athlete who does so may be subject to sanctions in accordance with UKa and/or IaaF rules together with any regulations made thereunder.

‘athletes’ representatives require authorisation from UKa when acting as an athletes’ representative in relation to any ath- lete, whether or not the athlete concerned is subject to the jurisdiction of UKa or competing within the United Kingdom.’

If senior UKa officials recognise Lough as an agent — their athlete liaison officer is certainly aware that he acts for athletes including adelle tracey, who ran in the heats of the women’s 800m last night — it begs the question as to why he is also allowed to attend official training camps. as the complaint says, it could give Lough access to athletes.

Lough, whose wife radcliffe is vice-chair of the IaaF athletes’ commission, attended a recent training camp in Font romeu and was at a UKa-funded altitude camp in South africa earlier in the year. the complaint questions whether this is an acceptable use of public money.

Lough confirmed to Sportsmail that he had attended the camps, ‘not as a coach but as support staff’. He denied he would use them to acquire clients. ‘Unlike some agents, I have morals,’ he said. He confirmed that UKa had paid his travel expenses to South africa.