IAAF president Lord Sebastian Coe has refuted allegations that he lobbied predecessor Lamine Diack over the hosting of the 2021 World Championships.

Eugene, USA, was given the event without a bidding process, despite interest from the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

A BBC investigation uncovered e-mails which claim that Coe - an ambassador for sports giant Nike and then vice-president of world athletics - "reached out" to Diack with his support for the Oregon city's bid.

Coe, who ended his ambassadorial role with Nike on Thursday, told a press conference: "I was asked specifically about my view of what was happening in that landscape [to host the 2021 championships].

"It wasn't the only question I'd had in that subject - there was a high level of speculation from both bidding cities as to what the process was going to be.

"I sought clarification from the president of the IAAF, who told me he saw no reason as to why that bidding process shouldn't continue. The best advice I could give to any cities was to put your best foot forward and get into the bidding process."

Eugene is known as the birthplace of Nike.