IAAF President Sebastian Coe said that "any corruption in the bidding process for the 2017 World Athletics Championships will be identified and dealt with," according to the BBC. London won the right to host the event but UK Athletics Chair Ed Warner said that "he was told that competitors Qatar were offering bribes to IAAF officials." Coe said, "If anything comes out of that nature, then clearly all those bids will be called in. In a bidding process, every sport has rumor piled upon rumor." London won the '17 vote 10-6 in Nov. '11. Qatari capital Doha was "subsequently named as host" for the '19 event in Nov. '14. Qatar "has denied any wrongdoing in either bid." A French criminal investigation into Coe's predecessor Lamine Diack and other leading IAAF officials is "looking at whether there was any financial wrongdoing in bids" for seven World Athletics Championships from '09 onward. Coauthor of the WADA report Richard McLaren said that he suspected bribes might have been paid, adding "we don't know that for sure -- that's why we want a further investigation and the police are pursuing that" (BBC, 1/17). The PA reported former British sprinter Linford Christie criticized Coe and suggested there needs to be "a purge" at the athletics world governing body. Christie, who won Gold in the 100m at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, said, "It's not for me to say (he should resign), it's for him to know. I think it's for him to make that decision. The sport needs to be clear, there needs to be total transparency and I think that's the only way" (PA, 1/18).
IN SPAIN: The EFE reported Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA) President José María Odriozola "rejected the accusations of negligence in the treatment of doping cases." As a member of the IAAF's counsel, he assured that he "was informed of many things, but in many cases there were only suspicions." Odriozola said, "I do not accept them saying that I was asleep and I was not informed of anything. I was informed of many things, but many were only suspicions, with almost no proof." Regarding claims of negligence in considering and possibly sanctioning athletes with atypical biological passports, he said, "Absolute lie. The Spanish Federation cannot open an investigation because it has no facts. The IAAF and WADA have them exclusively and they are secrets" (EFE, 1/18).
