Athletics’ world body has decided not to investigate bribery claims against Qatar after a preliminary probe failed to find anything more than “rumours” surrounding bidding for the 2017 world championships. The IAAF was acting on testimony from UK Athletics chief Ed Warner that the world body’s then vice-president, and now president Sebastian Coe had told him about the bribery allegations. But the body’s ethics board said Coe, when questioned, couldn’t remember hearing the rumour or making the comment, and that nobody present had corroborated Warner’s claim. “To date, none of the respondents have had any relevant evidence corroborative of Mr Warner’s recollection or relevant to the alleged factual matters the subject of the purported rumour,” a statement said. London won the vote to host the 2017 world championships, while Qatar will hold the following edition in 2019 after coming out on top in a ballot in 2014.