The following is a response from The Sunday Times to claims by the IAAF regarding the story in Sunday's edition on blood doping in athletics.

A spokesperson for The Sunday Times said:

“The Sunday Times's report on widespread blood doping in athletics was based on a thorough analysis of the IAAF's own data by two of the world's foremost anti-doping scientists.

As we reported, one of the scientists commented: ‘Never have I seen such an alarmingly abnormal set of blood values ... So many athletes appear to have doped with impunity and it is damning that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen.’

This story of immense public interest is based on an impeccable source, thoroughly researched, precisely conveyed and responsibly communicated. We did not draw any sweeping conclusions going beyond the evidence we obtained.

It is disingenuous of the IAAF to spend just two days conducting what it describes as a ‘thorough’ investigation into the serious issues we raised and then to attempt to dismiss the story as sensationalist.

The IAAF bases its rejection of the story on the fact that the data does not ‘prove doping’. That is not the point. Blood doping can be hard to prove but suspicious blood values are a strong indicator of it, and the IAAF had data that showed how widespread and outlandish some of the values have been. Many were extreme to the point of being irrefutable and the IAAF has accepted this because it does now censure athletes on their blood scores, and our experts precisely followed their current procedure.

The IAAF, by its own admission, has been aware of the extent of the problem for several years, and yet only employs 10 people to oversee a testing regime covering thousands of athletes across more than 200 countries.

Its refusal to accept any criticism raises serious questions as to whether the IAAF is truly committed to its primary duty of policing its sport and protecting clean athletes.”

ENDS

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