Mo Farah pictured training alongside banned drug cheat

Qatari athlete Driouch, a former world junior champion at 1500m, was shown running immediately behind Farah during a training camp in Ethiopia earlier this year.

The picture was shared by Farah himself on his Twitter account.

Driouch was recently banned as of December 31st of last year for two years after the discovery of irregularities with his biological passport - and under IAAF rules, he is not permitted to take part "in a training camp, exhibition or practice... in any capacity."

The Daily Telegraph spoke to Farah's agent, Ricky Simms, who claims that Farah was not training alongside any other athletes.

"Mo was in Ethiopia by himself,” said Simms.

"He hired some local athletes to pace for him during his workouts and he wasn’t part of any other training group. It’s not unusual for people to jump in. He has not got any association with any other athletes that may be out there."

That denial is expected to come under scrutiny given that other pictures shared on social media show Farah sharing meals and travelling on a bus with Driouch, according to the Daily Mail.

There is no suggestion that Farah himself has done anything wrong, but it seems likely that the IAAF will want to speak to him since they have a policy of investigating any breaches of the ban on training.

Farah's decision to train in Ethiopia this winter was based on the weather, as he explained last week: "It’s just this time of year where Portland [his normal training base] is really cold and here [Britain] is pretty cold, and you just want to try to get a block of training together. It’s something I’ve always done somewhere. This time I went to Ethiopia and it was really good."