The Adidas Group has denied a report by the BBC earlier this month that it intends to put a premature end to its contract as an official partner of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), describing it as inaccurate. Media reports claimed that Adidas wanted to end the eleven-year contract, which is due to expire in 2019, due to the doping and governance issues that have been dogging the federation in the last months. It was estimated that the early end of the contract would cost the federation $32 million in lost revenues. The IAAF has been under intense pressure since an independent commission for the World Anti-Doping Council (Wada) pointed to widespread and state-sponsored doping in Russia in a report issued in November. The commission went on to publish a second report earlier this year, accusing the IAAF of having “embedded” corruption in its organization under the leadership of Lamine Diack, its former president. Diack and his son are under investigation by French police over allegations of corruption. Both men have denied wrongdoing. Adidas says that it has a clear anti-doping policy and that the group is in close contact with the IAAF to learn more about its reform process. The company said that its anti-doping policy has previously led to the cancellation of contracts with athletes who were banned from sports due to doping, such as Dwain Chambers and Tyson Gay.

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