British Athletics has confirmed that head of endurance Barry Fudge will leave his role at the end of June.

Fudge was appointed in December 2013 and played a pivotal role in Mo Farah’s world and Olympic triumphs.

However he had found himself under increasing pressure in recent years over his links with Farah’s disgraced former coach Alberto Salazar.

An independent review of UK Athletics’ links to Salazar, published earlier this year, found that Fudge and the then performance director, the late Neil Black, had exerted pressure on the organisation to maintain its links to Salazar in 2015, despite mounting concerns over his methods.

Salazar was subsequently found guilty of doping offences and issued with a four-year ban from the sport in October 2019. There is no suggestion either Fudge or Farah acted improperly.

In a statement issued by British Athletics, Fudge said: “It’s a difficult time for the performance team and the sport as a whole but it has been great to see British Athletics use the opportunity to push on with recruiting the new head coach and performance director ahead of Tokyo 2021.

“The time is right for me to move on, and I am looking forward to watching our athletes progress and succeed at future championships.”