Adidas in close contact with IAAF, FIFA after scandals

[March 03, 2016]    BERLIN (Reuters) - German sportswear company Adidas has not pulled its sponsorship of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), but is monitoring how the body deals with its doping scandal, its chief executive said.

"IAAF knows exactly where we are going with our policy in terms of doping. We are in very close contact with the IAAF and will watch very closely what they are doing with this problem," Herbert Hainer told a news conference.

In January, the BBC reported that Adidas, the biggest sponsor of the IAAF, was ending its deal early after an independent report found Russia had engaged in widespread, state-sponsored doping, which former IAAF president Lamine Diack has been accused of covering up in return for bribes.

Hainer also welcomed reforms adopted last week at FIFA to help soccer's world governing body overcome its corruption scandal, saying Adidas, along with other sponsors, were working to make sure the reforms are put into practice.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; editing by Jason Neely)

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