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Agence France-Presse

German sportswear giant Adidas, the biggest sponsor of the scandal-hit International Association of Athletics Federations, is to end its multi-million dollar backing of the governing body four years early, the BBC reported on Sunday.
The BBC said Adidas’ decision was related directly to the doping scandal engulfing global track and field.
Adidas is understood to have told the IAAF it was thinking of withdrawing from its agreement as a result of the World Anti Doping Agency (Wada) Independent Commission’s first report, published in November, which detailed claims of “state sponsored doping” within Russia.
Earlier this month, commission chairman Dick Pound produced a second report, which revealed that “corruption was embedded” within the IAAF under former president Lamine Diack.
That, the BBC said, led Adidas to terminate its agreement, with officials at the company telling the IAAF of its decision this week.

According to the BBC, Adidas believes the doping revelations in Pound’s report constitute a breach of its agreement with the IAAF.
The 11-year sponsorship deal was signed in 2008 and was due to run until 2019. At the time it was agreed, the deal was reported to be worth US$33 million.
But the BBC, citing anonymous sources, said the figure was much higher and was worth around US$8 million this year alone.
On those figures, the projected lost revenue for the IAAF over the next four years will be US$30 million.
Adidas’ move will add to the pressure on IAAF president Sebastian Coe, who succeeded Diack in August, having been one of his vice-presidents for seven years.
Senior management at Adidas have also voiced their concerns at the corruption scandal surrounding Fifa, although the company remains a commercial partner of world football’s governing body.


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Athletics doping scandal 2015

Adidas to ditch major sponsorship of IAAF over doping scandal

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015 file photo, newly elected International Association of Athletics Federations President Sebastian Coe speaks during a press briefing at the IAAF Congress at the National Convention Center in Beijing. The British government ordered ambassadors around the world to lobby athletics leaders to vote for Sebastian Coe in the IAAF presidential election, aiming to ensure “British interests are protected,” diplomatic messages obtained by The Associated Press reveal. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - In this May 15, 2009 file photo current president of the IAAF Sebastian Coe, left, with then president of the IAAF Lamine Diack look at a map of the site of the London 2012 Olympics in London. Pound’s commission found that former IAAF president Diack ``was responsible for organizing and enabling the conspiracy and corruption” that took place as the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA announced Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, file)

Adidas’ announcement cranks up the heat on IAAF president Sebastian Coe. Photo: AP

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