Farah left in the clear after probe into Salazar
UK ATHLETICS are set to back Mo Farah’s decision to remain with coach Alberto Salazar, despite the American admitting he engaged in highly controversial practices within the Nike Oregon Project training group. Salazar has already admitted ‘letting his paranoia get the best of him’ after it was alleged he used son Alex as a guinea pig to test how much of the banned anabolic steroid testosterone would register as a positive drugs test. He claimed the experiment was to guard against sabotage by his ‘enemies’. An independent review by the sport’s national governing body has so far uncovered ‘no reason’ to call into question whether this is the correct environment for Britain’s most high-profile athlete to be associated with. The review also cleared Farah of any wrongdoing. The full findings of the performance oversight group (POG), comprising former athletes Jason Gardener, Dr Sarah Rowell and Anne Wafula Strike, will be published after the World Championships in Beijing at the end of August. But they confirmed their investigation uncovered no concerns about the Oregon Project, headed by Salazar. While UK Athletics are yet to comment, the initial findings offer no grounds for him to leave Salazar. ‘None of the information supplied to the POG contained any evidence of impropriety on the part of Farah, nor gave UK Athletics any reason to question the appropriateness of the input given by the Oregon Project to Farah’s training regime,’ a statement said. More than a dozen former Oregon Project athletes and staff have reported concerns about Salazar’s practices to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). On Saturday, Farah was questioned for five hours by a USADA lawyer. There is no suggestion Farah has been privy to any wrongdoing but the association with such serious claims is damaging his reputation.