BBC Sports Personality of the Year hit with fix claims as Mo Farah seen with award on his chair before winner announced
Viewers were left suggesting a conspiracy theory, but this isn't the first time winner has been crowned while not at ceremony
BBC Sports Personality of the Year has been hit with fix claims after Mo Farah was spotted with the award on his chair BEFORE the winner was announced.
Twitter users were sent into a frenzy after spotting the trophy next to him, with voting not even open at the time.
Farah was not present atthe bash in Liverpoolevening, as he was left looking after his kids in London.
On his non-appearance, the British running superstar said: “My family and I are in the middle of moving back to the UK right now.
"I’m looking after all four of the kids this weekend while my wife Tania is back in the US packing up the last of our stuff.
"Our girls have just started their new school in London, so we’re staying close to home to help them all settle into their new life."
On the early trophy appearance, eagle-eyed viewers were left perplexed by the situation, taking to Twitter to share their conspiracy-laden thoughts.
One social media user tweeted "Any reason why Mo Farah had a trophy next to him before the voting was even open?? #spoty fix"
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Another claimed: "Mo Farah's daughter so surprised he won yet she's sat there with the trophy on her lap."
One viewer angrily vented: "Rigged to f*** this #spoty Mo Farah hasn’t attended the ceremony.
"Yet they’ve just handed him the trophy? Yet there’s another trophy on stage!"
Another said: "Why did Mo Farah and his daughter look so shocked, she was sat with the trophy on her lap."
A further tweeter pondered: "Why does Mo Farah look so shocked considering the trophy is on his daughters lap??"
Meanwhile one added: "How did they have the trophy at Mo Farah’s house if the voting opened half an hour ago? #SPOTY2017 fix"
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However, the logical answer would be that all candidates had a trophy on standby should they have been crowned this year's winner.
After all, a host of other candidates on the shortlist, including Lewis Hamilton, were not present in Liverpool for Sunday's event.
This is not the first time a winner has not been present for the occasion, with Andy Murray receiving the award while at his Florida training base on more than one occasion.
But naturally, it hasn't stopped the conspiracy theorists of Twitter from calling it all a fix.