UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner has called for the IAAF to repay a £5 million sum to British authorities if French police uncover proof of corruption from Qatar in the bidding process for the 2017 world championships.
Following a two-way fight with Doha, the event was awarded to London in 2011 by the governing body’s ruling council by a 16-10 majority, with the successful campaign spearheaded by then-London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and UK Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson.
But Warner, who was also part of the victorious team, has revealed that UKA significantly raised the sum of money promised at the eleventh hour, amid claims the Qataris “had been called upstairs one by one to a suite to be given a brown envelope.” The allegations, which centre on Papa Diack – the son of former IAAF president Lamine Diack – are understood to be under investigation by judicial authorities in France.
And Warner insisted that, if proven, there will be calls for compensation that will further shred the already-damaged credibility of the IAAF.
“We’ve won, we’re hosting the championships,” he told BBC 5 Live. “But money is involved. Very specifically, on the morning of the bid, Council members and senior people at the IAAF were telling us that we were behind because the Qataris had promised to pay the $7.2m prize fund for the athlete prize money that otherwise the IAAF would have to pay. They were saying to us to match that offer.
“We had the room in our budget. It was something we had up our sleeves. We were wondering whether to play that card. We played it and we won. We were told that was a decisive factor. When I look back now, if I was up against a bid that wasn’t in any way straight, really I should have that money back.”
The revelations heap further pressure on Coe whose position as IAAF president is looking increasingly tenuous after he yesterday denied any prior knowledge of Warner’s assertions, despite his central presence in the final lobbying for London 2017’s bid.
“The French prosecutors are looking at this,” he said. “I have already instituted a review of our financial, our marketing and our sponsorship arrangements within the IAAF. So if anything comes out of that, all those bids clearly will be called in.”
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