Andy Butchart has admitted he is seriously considering boycotting the Diamond League events this season following the decision by the IAAF to drop the 5000m from the programme.

The decision was announced by the governing body in March as they attempt to make the Diamond League more television friendly and it is suspected that with the 5000m taking up a considerable amount of time on the programme, they have decided to get rid of it entirely from the meets.

For Butchart, who is the current British 5000m champion and has been a regular in the GB team for a number of years, this seriously affects his build-up to the 2020 Olympics, which is now only eight months away.

And despite holding himself back from commenting too much on the development since the announcement came earlier in the year, he has revealed he has serious doubts about the IAAF and is reconsidering including any Diamond League races in his schedule now.

“I will try to not run as many Diamond Leagues and boycott and do other things. Because the IAAF right now is just a bit iffy,” the 28-year-old said.

“I go on twitter and I see everything and I feel like typing a message and then I think no. Maybe I’m too dumb to say anything without sounding stupid.

“There’s nothing I can do, nothing we can do – we just have to do the races.”

It was announced last week though that Christian Taylor, the Olympic and world triple jump champion from America, has launched a new athletics association, called ‘The Athletics Association’, which is a new union which aims to give elite track and field athletes greater say in the future of the sport.

Butchart, who won the Scottish Short-Course XC Championships on Saturday, has welcomed the news and is quick to point out that he thinks the athletes must have a greater say in things than they currently have. And he admits he is excited to see how Taylor’s venture develops.

“I definitely think that the athletes need to take more control over the sport. Without athletes, there are no events and the athletes aren’t getting the recognition the governing body needs to give them. And that’s ridiculous,” he said.

“I like what Christian is doing – he’s a smart guy, he’s a good person to stand behind and he’s a good leader to take the sport to the next level, if that’s what he’s planning on doing.”