Athletics chief Sebastian Coe has launched a withering attack on the BBC team covering the Doha World Championships over their comments regarding the lack of spectators.

And he specifically took aim at anchor broadcaster Gabby Logan who commented on the empty stadium facing GB golden girl Dina Asher-Smith in her record-breaking win in the 200m final.

The IAAF president has said that he has a "problem" with the way the BBC are portraying the sport, singling out experienced broadcaster Logan, who has recently covered the Six Nations, the Women's World Cup and Diamond League athletics.

Coe said: “It’s very easy to sit there and make all sorts of Gabby Logan-type judgments over three or four days and clear off back to Match of the Day.

“But it’s really important that we see the long-term development of our sport.

“That’s not going to be done because we have challenges over ticketing in a stadium for three days. The problem I’ve got with that is it’s the way our sport is being portrayed by some of the people in that studio.”

Coe added: “I’ve got people, whose judgment I do trust, who are saying it would be great if a 1min 42.4sec run and some great performances were being dissected.

“The crowd is an easier subject to talk about rather than some of the more insightful stuff around the events. I accept that, that’s the world we live in.

“There are places which are going to take longer for us to go to, but people have to believe this sport is theirs, it’s not just rooted in a handful of European capitals.”

While the BBC declined to comment, Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was quick to leap to the defence of his colleague.

He tweeted: “Picking the wrong target in Gabby Logan. She’s just doing her job brilliantly as always. Maybe look closer to home.”