Athletics: Former Coach Child Sex Charges
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
It has been reported that Jose Vicente Leiva-Modahl, the former British Olympic athletics coach, has been charged with some serious child sex offences.
He is 65 years old, Norwegian and the husband of former Olympic middle-distance runner, Diane Modahl.
He faces 19 separate charges including sexual assault of a child, rape and controlling and coercive behaviour and all of the charges relate to the same woman. The offences are alleged to have been committed between 2012 and 2024.
As a result of an investigation carried out by the Greater Manchester Police, the charges are being brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), who stated:
"Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Diane Modahl herself was at the centre of an important doping case brought against the British Athletic Federation several years ago, which she took, on appeal, to the House of Lords, but lost on 22 July 1999.
The ruling concerned the legal relationship between an athlete and their governing body and reinforced the principle that sports federations, when operating within the framework of established international guidelines, are not liable for contractual breaches arising from procedural errors that do not compromise the reliability of their disciplinary actions.
For the full text of the judgment, see: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/ldjudgmt/jd990722/modahl.htm.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
