Athletics: Nike Suspend Graham's Contract

Trevor Graham, the controversial coach associated with 13 athletes who have tested positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs and is under investigation by the FBI and the International Association of Athletics Federations, has had his $250,000 (£140,000) annual contract with Nike suspended.

"He will not receive payment while the contract is suspended, and there is no specific date or speculation as to when we would set it up again," said Nike's spokesman, Dean Stoyer.

Several of the athletes coached by Graham have tested positive for banned substances, including Justin Gatlin, the Olympic and world 100 metres champion and joint world record holder. He is facing an eight-year ban after testing positive for the second time in his career.

LaTasha Jenkins, the world's sixth-ranked 200m runner, was the latest Graham-coached athlete to become linked with doping when it emerged on Thursday that she had tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone. She faces a minimum of a two-year ban.

Geoff Wightman, a leading candidate to replace Dave Moorcroft as the chief executive of UK Athletics, has criticised the decision of UK Athletics to appoint Linford Christie as a mentor to young sprinters despite having tested positive for banned anabolic steroids.

He claims UK Athletics have "misjudged the strength of public opinion" on drugs. "There is no room for misinterpretation, and with London 2012, and hopefully a Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, we must have a level playing field," said Wightman, the chief executive of Scottish Athletics and a qualified lawyer who ran for Britain in the 1990 European Championships.