Lord Coe denies bribery warning for 2017 World Championships

Lord Coe was elected IAAF president in August 2015

IAAF president Lord Coe has denied a report he alerted UK Athletics (UKA) to allegations of bribes before the vote for the 2017 World Championships.

UKA boss Ed Warner said he was warned by a "very senior IAAF person" about envelopes of cash being handed out before the vote, which London won.

The Daily Mail claims two witnesses recall Coe warning the bid team.

Coe has repeatedly denied he knew about major corruption within athletics during his time as IAAF vice-president.

Now, following the latest accusations, the IAAF has been forced to issue a statement insisting Coe, who became president in August last year, had "no knowledge of bribes being offered or received".

The IAAF, which governs world athletics, and a number of its key officials have come under fire for their governance of the sport.

An independent World Anti Doping-Agency report recently claimed that "corruption was embedded" within the organisation.

The report's authors also suggested the bidding process for the World Championships should be investigated.

Coe led London's final presentation bid before it beat Doha in a 2011 vote for the right to host the 2017 championships.

The Qatari capital was subsequently awarded the 2019 event.

The Qatar Athletics Federation has always denied any wrongdoing during the voting process, but Warner told British MPS this week that the IAAF's ethics commission is looking into both Doha bids.

French prosecutors are already investigating the decision to award the 2021 World Championships to Eugene, Oregon.

The town, which has strong associations with sportswear giant Nike, for whom Coe was a paid ambassador until last month, appears to have been awarded the rights to stage the event without a full bidding process.

Damian Collins is a Conservative MP