Sir Mo Farah to relocate to London

Sir Mo Farah has revealed he is to relocate to London but has denied his decision has been influenced by doping allegations against his American coach Alberto Salazar.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist instead insists he is coming home to London because he and his family missed living in the city where his eldest daughter Rhianna was born.

Farah won Olympic gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the London Olympics in 2012 and repeated four years later in Rio.

The 34-year-old Somali-born British runner, who has switched to compete in the marathon, had resisted calls to quit Salazar’s Nike Oregon Project in the past because of doping allegations against the controversial coach.

Farah told The Sun: “I’m not leaving the Nike Oregon Project and Alberto Salazar because of the doping allegations. This situation has been going on for over two years, if I was going to leave because of that I would have done.”

Salazar has denied all allegations and Farah stressed he would have quit their partnership if they had been proved true.

Farah added: “As I’ve always said, I am firm believer in clean sport and I strongly believe that anyone who breaks the rules should be punished.

“If Alberto had crossed the line I would be out the door but USADA (the US Anti-Doping Agency) has not charged him with anything.

“If I had ever had any reason to doubt Alberto, I would not have stood by him all this time.”

He added: “I’m leaving simply because my family and I are moving back to London. We all loved spending our summer here and Tania and I realised how much we have missed spending time with our friends and family – and the kids are so happy here, too.

“We want the kids to grow up in the UK. It’s the right thing to do for my family. But both Nike Oregon Project and Alberto are based in the USA, so it just would not be possible to continue our relationship from London.”

Farah last competed in London in the World Athletics Championships in August and will take to the capital’s streets next April in the London Marathon.