Lord Coe, president of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), announced that he will investigate claims of bribery in the bidding process of 2017 World Championships in London. Ed Warner, Chairman of UK Athletics defended the London Team and said that it has nothing to hide over its bid.
On Sunday, Ed Warner spoke on BBC Radio 5 Sportsweek program saying that his team agreed to spend almost 7 million US dollars to cover prize money. The chairman of UK Athletics said that they were advised to spend such money or else they will not host the upcoming 2017 Championships. Mr. Warner also said that brown envelopes were being distributed to the members of the IAAF Council during the bidding. He added that it is important for them to win the bidding, however, money was involved.
Daily Mail reported that on the morning of the bid, IAAF council members and other leaders of IAAF told Ed Warner's team that they were behind because Qatar had promised to pay the $7.2 million for the athlete prize money. The chairman said that they were asked to match such offer.
The UK Athletics decided to play the card and so they won. The IAAF told them after that it was a decisive swing factor and that they did the correct thing. However, Ed Warner was regretful with the action they took. "I look back at it now and I think, 'Did I have to make that money [available]? Have I had to spend 7.2million dollars?' he said.
BT Sport reported that Ed Warner welcomes any investigation into all bidding processes and that he would love to believe that it was a fair playing field. Meanwhile, Irish Times reported that Qatar has denied any wrongdoing during the bid for 2017 Championships.
When Lord Coe was asked if he was aware of the allegations, Coe said he was not. However, the president vows to punish any perpetrators involved in the IAAF bidding and that French prosecutors are looking at his.
