The England team doctor, Rob Chakraverty, has quit his role at the FA less than a month after his position came under scrutiny after questions were raised about an infusion given to Mo Farah during the doctor’s previous job at UK Athletics.
Documents unearthed by a recent BBC Panorama programme on Farah’s former coach Alberto Salazar revealed Chakraverty had expressed reservations about possible “side-effects” from an infusion of the supplement L-carnitine but went ahead and gave it to Farah before the 2014 London Marathon regardless.
“The time is now right to step away from this role and seek new challenges,” Chakraverty said in a statement. “It has been a privilege to work as the lead doctor to the England men’s senior team since joining the FA in 2016.
“The team and players have been wonderful to work with and the memories of what we achieved together at the World Cup two years ago will stay with me forever.”
In 2017 a parliamentary select committee heard Chakraverty had given Farah 13.5ml of L-carnitine – well under the permitted dose – but that the doctor had subsequently been censured in his appraisal for “his inexcusable conduct” in not recording it in any official records.
An apologetic Chakraverty insisted he had been too busy dealing with 140 other athletes under his wing to record the dosage. However those injections have since become the subject of much controversy.
Last October Salazar was banned for four years for “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct” – including an illegal infusion of L-carnitine, which he gave to a coach at the Nike Oregon Project as part of an experiment that exceeded the legal limit stated in the World Anti-Doping Agency Code.
In response to BBC Panorama last month, Chakraverty denied any wrongdoing, adding the infusion he had given Farah in 2014 “was well below the 50ml permitted during a six-hour period”.
He added: “I have not contravened any World or UK Anti-Doping rules and I have always acted in the best interests of those I treat. My due diligence checks were thorough – this is standard process, and was necessary as it was the first time I had been asked to administer L-Carnitine. The General Medical Council reviewed this issue in 2018 and concluded the case required no further action.”
The FA thanked Chakraverty for his part in England’s progress since 2016 and for “sharing his expertise across the wider medical department. We wish him every success for the future”.
