World Athletics has disclosed a multi-year corporate theft totalling just over $1.73m (€1.5m), terminated two contracts, and referred the case to legal authorities, as the federation simultaneously drives pre-sales for its new Ultimate Championship.
World Athletics said its finance team uncovered “systematic theft” by two employees and a contracted consultant during the first annual audit under a new financial leadership. A total of $1.73m was taken.
In a statement published on October 30, the athletics body disclosed that one employee had already left the organisation before the discovery, while another and the consultant were dismissed following an internal investigation.
The case has been handed to judicial authorities and the body has commissioned an independent forensic review, which found no further fraud.
Reports from major outlets have identified the former chief operating officer Vineesh Kochhar and former director of broadcast James Lord among those under investigation. World Athletics has not named individuals in its statement.
President Sebastian Coe said the focus was on transparency, recovery of funds and strengthened financial controls.
“The most important thing is to identify it, review how it was able to happen and then introduce new processes and enhanced controls to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Coe said in the federation’s statement, adding that World Athletics would seek to recover money “using the full force of the law”.
The governance development lands as World Athletics courts fans and sponsors for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on September 11-13, 2026. The event is pitched as a high-impact season finale with a $10m prize pool and star-driven storytelling.
Ticketing has opened in stages: fans who register receive exclusive pre-sale access from November 6-9th, ahead of general sales from November 10, according to the federation’s announcements and the event ticketing page.
