By Matt Lawton and Riath Al-Samarrai for the Daily Mail
Published: 22:38 BST, 26 April 2019 | Updated: 22:38 BST, 26 April 2019
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Sir Mo Farah is facing further claims that he wanted a coach linked to a major doping investigation to be given access to his training camp hotel in Ethiopia.
This week, distance-running legend Haile Gebrselassie said the catalyst for an explosive public row — that has overshadowed Farah's preparation for Sunday's London Marathon — was his refusal to allow Jama Aden, who is being pursued by Spanish authorities and Interpol after his arrest following a drugs raid in 2016, into the hotel near Addis Ababa.
That account was supported by Melkamu Mekonnen, the hotel's director of hospitality, who told Sportsmail: 'Jama Aden was coming here in our resort but Haile said he shouldn't come to our village because he's wanted over international doping. So he banned him from the hotel and Mo wasn't friendly after that.'
Sir Mo Farah has been backed by British Athletics amid his row with Haile Gebrselassie
After a furious back-and-forth between Farah and Gebrselassie over the Olympic champion's more recent stay at the Ethiopian's Yaya Village Resort, Gebrselassie made the astonishing assertion on Thursday that their falling-out originated over a coach the Briton has been linked with in the past.
In an interview on Thursday with an Ethiopian reporter working for Sportsmail, Gebrselassie said: 'His grudge against me started when I denied access to Jama Aden to the hotel. Jama Aden was conducting training with him at the time. I was head of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation at the time. He was angry with me at the time… and looking for ways to revenge for that.'
This was dismissed by Farah's representatives at Freuds PR firm as 'utter nonsense' and on Friday
