Fudge to step down as British Athletics' head of endurance

(Reuters) - Barry Fudge will step down from his role as British Athletics' Head of Endurance at the end of the month, the governing body said on Friday.

Fudge was appointed to the role in December 2013 and was part of the team that guided Mo Farah to four Olympic gold medals.

However, he had come under increasing pressure over his ties to Farah's former coach Alberto Salazar, who was given a four-year ban by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last year.

Salazar was banned for “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct” as head coach of the Nike Oregon Project, a camp designed mainly to develop U.S. endurance athletes.

Fudge was the point of contact between UK Athletics and the Nike Oregon Project. Farah and Fudge have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

"The time is right for me to move on, and I am looking forward to watching our athletes progress and succeed at future championships," Fudge said in a statement.

"We’d like to thank Barry for his work for the organisation over the years. The recruitment of the new head coach and performance director will now take the organisation in to a new era,” UKA chief Joanna Coates said.

Fudge's decision to step down comes a month after an independent review into UKA identified a "general culture of mistrust" within the organisation and concluded that the sport was not in a good position.

(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)