Athletics - IAAF not privy to any championships bid concerns: CEO

By Gene Cherry

(Reuters) - Athletics global governing body has not been made aware of any information that would give it concern about successful world championship bids by Doha and Eugene, Oregon, the IAAF's chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday.

French prosecutors said in 2015 the bids were being investigated as part of a wide-ranging probe into the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

"At this point we have not been privy to any information that would give us any doubt," Olivier Gers said in a telephone interview from Eugene, which will host the 2021 championships.

The 2019 event is set for Doha.

"We are working with investigative authorities around the world to root out the problems of the past," said Gers, who was in Eugene for a site visit.

The IAAF's former president, Lamine Diack, is under investigation in France for alleged corruption relating to demands for payment from athletes to hide positive doping results.

Diack has denied the allegations.

Gers added: "We have been on the record saying if any issues come up, we will make the decisions that are required."

The hosting rights to the 2021 championships were awarded to Eugene in 2015 without a bidding process to the surprise of the Swedish city of Gothenburg, which was in the process of making its own bid.

The IAAF Council, then under Diack's leadership, voted 23-1 in favour of Eugene.

Current IAAF President Sebastian Coe has defended the decision, while Eugene organisers have said: "We are 100 percent confident there has been nothing outside of what are the norms for the presentation of an IAAF bid."

The organisers also have said they have not been contacted by French authorities.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford)