UK Athletics chief Neil Black considering his position in wake of Alberto Salazar scandal
The head of UK Athletics has revealed he will consider his position in the wake of the governing body’s chaotic handling of the Alberto Salazar scandal.
Salazar, who guided Mo Farah to four Olympic and six world titles, was last week banned from athletics for four years after he was found guilty of multiple doping offences. He is appealing the verdict.
The ban imposed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency came after a UK Athletics review into Salazar in 2015 found “no reason to be concerned” about Farah’s coach and cleared the distance runner to continue working at his Nike Oregon Project. Salazar’s former assistant coach and whistleblower Steve Magness called the review a “sham”.
UK Athletics performance director Neil Black had previously described Salazar as “a genius… one of the best people to work with that I have ever come across”, with the American employed as a consultant to the governing body’s endurance programme in 2013. Senior figures in the sport have questioned whether Black’s relationship with the American coach was too close.
Speaking after leading Britain to their worst World Championships haul in 14 years with just five medals in Doha, a tired-looking Black said he will consider his position now that event has finished.
“I just need to work through the findings more fully, stay focused here and we will go home and look in more detail,” said Black, who admitted he was “shocked” when he learned of Salazar’s ban.
“I’ll play back the decisions I made and once I’ve had a chance to really look through that I’ll have a view.
“Having done that thoroughly, patiently, sensibly, I’ll come to my own decision and that will run in parallel with discussions with [UK Athletics chairman] Chris Clark and the board.”
Asked if he could deny the possibility of leaving a role he has held since 2012, he replied: “I’m not able to answer with any more detail.”
He later added: “My aim has always been to be the performance director and the leader of the team going through to Tokyo 2020 [Olympics] and that hasn’t changed.”
A physio by trade, Black has spent more than two decades in elite athletics, co-ordinating support services for British athletes prior to taking on his current role. He has remained close to Farah throughout, travelling round the world to serve as a personal physio to the four-time Olympic champion and he will be by Farah’s side at the Chicago Marathon this weekend.
Asked if he remained 100 per cent certain that Farah – who left the Nike Oregon Project in 2017 and has never been accused of any wrongdoing – did nothing wrong under Salazar’s care, Black said: “Nothing at all has changed in terms of my belief regarding Mo Farah.
“I think it is important to repeat that British Athletics medical and support teams were always the people who were on top of, and managing and directing, the care of Mo Farah, so we have no concerns.”
The Usada report into Salazar also warned the American coach had used painkillers and various legal medications when there was no medical need, potentially putting athletes’ long-term health at risk.
“I am very, very sure that no British athletes have been involved in any of those processes,” said Black. “I am very sure about that.”
He also refuted any suggestion that current or past British athletes may have used thyroid medication without medical need.
“Certainly, to the best of my knowledge, no British athlete has ever taken thyroid medication when it wasn’t required,” he said. “It is obviously confidential information, but the only time any medication was used and so on was for a medical reason, without any question.”
