Mo Farah on Salazar scandal: happy to be tested anytime and anywhere

After Alberto Salazar was banned for four years, Mo Farah faced the media and was not impressed by questions about his former coach.

"Why is my name in the headlines? I haven't done anything wrong. These allegations are about Alberto Salazar not Mo Farah," says the Olympian responding to the ban on his former coach.

Mo Farah has finally broken his silence on the Alberto Salazar doping ban, saying he is happy to be tested 'anytime and anywhere.'

Farah worked with Salazar, who strenuously denied any wrongdoing and plans to appeal the ban, from 2011 until 2017, a period in which the British long-distance runner won four Olympic gold medals.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last week sanctioned Salazar and Dr Jeffrey Brown for "orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct while acting, respectively, as head coach of the Nike Oregon Project [NOP] and as a paid consultant for the NOP on performance enhancement and as physician for numerous athletes in the NOP."

READ : Nike to back Salazar ban appeal but closes Oregon Project

Two independent three-member panels of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) found Salazar and Brown "possessed and trafficked a banned performance-enhancing substance and administered or attempted to administer a prohibited method to multiple track and field athletes", while the panel also found that both "committed tampering and complicity violations".

The allegations surrounding Salazar first surfaced in 2015. Farah has never been accused of any wrongdoing.

"At the time there was no allegation against me," Farah said ahead of the Chicago Marathon. "There were allegations against Alberto Salazar.

"I want to be clear and I'll be honest as I have since day one. I was out in Birmingham racing. I pulled out of the race in 2015.

"I flew to Portland to get some answers from Alberto. I talked to him face to face and he assured me at the time that it was just an allegation, this is not true, there are no allegations against you, Mo.

"He promised me and that hasn't been true.

READ : Farah after Salazar ban: 'No tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules'

"Why is my name in the headlines? I haven't done anything wrong. These allegations are about Alberto Salazar not Mo Farah.

"I haven't failed any tests. I'm happy to be tested anytime and anywhere. My tests can be used as samples and research. There is no more I can do.

"I have no tolerance for anyone who crosses the line. I have said that from day one.

"There is a clear agenda to this. I have seen it many times. I have seen it with Raheem Sterling. I’ve seen it with Lewis Hamilton. I can't win whatever I do."

Nike has elected to close down the Oregon Project in the wake of the suspension. 

Asked about that decision, Farah replied: "I've been out of the Oregon Project for two years, basing myself in London to focus on the marathon.

"It's not my decision to shut down the Oregon Project. It's Nike's decision – I'm Mo Farah."