Alberto Salazar, his links to Mo Farah, UK Athletics’ role in the scandal and why the Nike Oregon Project has been shut down
Nike have announced they are to close their Oregon Project after Alberto Salazar was banned for four years for doping violations.
The company said "uninformed innuendo and unsubstantiated assertions has become an unfair burden" on athletes and it has taken the decision to wind down the elite distance running programme, of which Salazar was head coach.
"Nike has always tried to put the athlete and their needs at the front of all of our decisions," said a statement.
"While the panel found there was no orchestrated doping, no finding that performance enhancing drugs have ever been used on Oregon Project athletes and went out of its way to note Alberto's desire to follow all rules, ultimately Alberto can no longer coach while the appeal is pending.
"This situation including uninformed innuendo and unsubstantiated assertions has become an unfair burden for current OP athletes. That is exactly counter to the purpose of the team.
"We have therefore made the decision to wind down the Oregon Project to allow the athletes to focus on their training and competition needs.
"We will help all of our athletes in this transition as they choose the coaching set up that is right for them. We will continue to support Alberto in his appeal."
Here's all you need to know about the scandal that has rocked the athletics world...
What was the Nike Oregon Project (NOP)?
Created by the world's largest footwear manufacturer in 2001, it was an elite training programme for athletes based at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton in Portland, America. Initially aimed at promoting and improving American long-distance running, overseas athletes, including Mo Farah, later joined the programme.
Salazar, who had enjoyed a successful distance running career in which he won the New York Marathon three times and claimed victory in the Boston Marathon in the early 1980s, was the leader of the project. He introduced some radical methods, which says included obsolete Russian computer programmes to track Omega brain waves and a molecular sieve that split the air. Athletes also lived in sealed rooms to simulate altitude.
What has Alberto Salazar been banned for?
In October, the 61-year-old was sanctioned along with endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown for "orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct" while working with the NOP. That followed a four-year investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Salazar was found guilty of committing three violations of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code:
1) Administration of a prohibited method (with respect to an infusion in excess of the applicable limit).
2) Tampering and/or attempted tampering with NOP athletes’ doping control.
3) Trafficking and/or attempted trafficking of testosterone.
Brown was banned for four years for tampering with records, administering an illegal infusion and complicity in Salazar’s trafficking.
USADA chief executive officer Travis Tygart said: "While acting in connection with the Nike Oregon Project, Mr Salazar and Dr Brown demonstrated that winning was more important than the health and wellbeing of the athletes they were sworn to protect."
Salazar says he was 'shocked' by USADA's findings and is to launch an appeal.
What are the links to Mo Farah?
Farah has faced difficult questions about his relationship with Salazar for a number of years. The Briton relocated to Portland in early 2011 to work with Salazar at the Nike Oregon Project and, under his tutelage, developed into one of the greatest long-distance runners in history.
He won ten straight global titles on the track, including four Olympic gold medals, before ending his relationship with Salazar in late 2017.
Farah has never failed a drugs test and has always strongly denied breaking any rules. Farah issued a statement after Salazar was found guilty of doping violations in which he stressed he had "no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules or crosses a line".
"I'm relieved that USADA has, after four years, completed their investigation into Alberto Salazar," said Farah.
"I left the Nike Oregon Project in 2017 but as I've always said, I have no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules or crosses a line. A ruling has been made and I'm glad there has finally been a conclusion."
What is UK Athletics’ (UKA) role?
UK Athletics (UKA), the governing body for athletics in the United Kingdom, also has serious questions to answer over the Salazar scandal.
Salazar was appointed as a consultant to UK Athletics' endurance programme in 2013. After allegations first surfaced about his methods in an explosive BBC Panorama programme in 2015, UK Athletics' performance director Neil Black gave a staunch defence of the Cuba-born coach, describing him as a 'genius'.
UK Athletics conducted a review into Farah's relationship with Salazar in 2015 after coming under pressure but found no reason to have any concerns and backed them to continue working together. That review by UKA has since been branded a 'sham' by Steve Magness, a former assistant coach to Salazar who was a key witness in the USADA investigation. "It seemed like they were checking boxes so they couldn’t be held accountable — ‘OK, we did our review and we followed our governance.’ It didn’t feel like it was taken seriously.
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“I saw Neil Black [British Athletics’ performance director] coming over and associating with Salazar and all those guys and I feel some major questions have to be asked. They made their bed and chose their side but beside one UKA investigation, which was a 30-minute Skype call with [the UKA president] Jason Gardener, I never heard from a single person from UKA.
“If you are taking this stuff seriously you investigate and you reach out instead of prejudging. They need to ask themselves a lot of questions. I don’t think their goal was to find anything.”
In the wake of USADA's findings, UKA announced this week that Black would be leaving his role as performance director.