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Athletics coach banned over mocking athletes

Despite his ban, athletics coach Fuzz Caan claimed that he was not offered the required support while being at the UK Athletics.

By Abhiruchi Rout | Mar 9, 2023 | 2 Min Read

British athletics coach Fuzz Caan has been banned for three years after admitting to charges of misconduct, including mocking para-athletes and using abusive language. Caan, who had previously coached high jump silver medalist Robbie Grabarz at the London Olympics, accepted eight out of twelve charges against him that were brought forward by UK Athletics. The three-year ban was backdated from June 2021 until June 2024.

Caan was initially suspended before the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 where he was going to coach British athletes and high jumpers Morgan Lake and Emily Borthwick. He admitted to mocking disabled people by doing an impression of walking with a limp with his arm bent and making noises with his tongue out. Additionally, he called one para-athlete “limp-foot Christie”. Other charges he accepted included calling a team doctor “a fwit” and being abusive to his own athletes, including saying: “I have driven all this fg way to be here for this f***g idiot”.

Despite his ban, athletics coach Fuzz Caan claimed that he was not offered the required support while being at the UK Athletics. The organization, however, stated that it planned to “ensure positive cultures are in place within the organization”. Caan has no right to appeal the decision. Caan’s suspension was initiated after UK Athletics received a letter of complaint signed by several individuals in the high jump community. After an investigation by UK Athletics in which witness statements were acquired from many athletes, 12 charges of misconduct were raised against Caan. Among them was a claim that he “repeatedly swore and shouted” at an athlete under his care for several minutes.

Former Coronation Street actor, Caan, who had been serving as the national event coach for high jump since 2013, has had misconduct claims upheld against him. He had guided Robbie Grabarz to an Olympic silver medal at London 2012, but now joins the list of high-profile British coaches with misconduct allegations. Last year, Caan had taken on a coaching role at the Saudi Olympic Training Centre, exploiting a loophole in the current coaching ban system, as an UK Athletics suspension only applies in the UK. This comes after Toni Minichiello, former coach of Jessica Ennis-Hill, was barred from coaching athletics for life due to sexual misconduct charges.