On the 20th August 2023, England’s wait to win a World Cup continued following a harrowing 1-0 defeat to Spain. Having shed a few tears and watched the trophy presentation, I immediately made the short walk (or more so, stomp) from the conservatory to the living room, where the World Athletics Championships was on the TV. And as I watched on through the day and into the evening, I pensed over the controversy surrounding all the major tournaments that had gone on in years gone by.
That kiss from Spanish Football President, Luis Rubiales to striker Jenni Hermoso that I had watched just minutes beforehand, Gianni Infantino’s frankly disgusting speech before the Qatar World Cup in December last year in a feeble attempt to excuse the persistent human rights allegations made against the country, from the building of the stadiums by migrants to womens’ and disabled rights that made my stomach churn and my blood boil (infant by name, infant by nature I guess). FIFA’s 2015 Corruption scandal with Sepp Blatter, Alexander Ceferin and UEFA’s horrific handling of the 2022 Champions League Final. Tom Harrison’s dreadful tenure as Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board which then carried on elsewhere as he was somehow made CEO of the Rugby Football Union. Whether 3 Premiership teams going into administration within a year of his appointment in Wasps, London Irish and Worcester was just unfortunate timing on his part…I’ll leave you to decide. These are but a few of very high profile controversies among the highest executives in the world of sport.
And then I saw Sebastian Coe. President of World Athletics, handing out medals with a smile on his face. It wasn’t an over exuberant, forced smile (take notes, Infantino), but a man who is genuinely happy to see people flourish and is not simply in it for the sake of a major cash payout. This is a man who genuinely cares for his sport. A 1500m Olympic gold medallist (1980) and later a Conservative Member of Parliament between 1992 and 1997 who, after being in multiple roles both political and apolitical, brought an end to 16 years of plain-to-see corruption under the Presidency of Lamine Diack following his election in 2015. In the 8 years following he has brought World Athletics back where it needs to be on the sporting stage.
So when he was re-elected just 3 days before the World Cup Final, on August 17th at the World Athletics Congress, I can’t say that I wasn’t absolutely overjoyed. While there are people who don’t like his tenure for one reason or another, suggesting he hasn’t done much for the sport, Coe himself admitted to the Congress that the first four years of his Presidency were “to make sure that the ship didn’t sink”. The four years after, he explained were to “deal with ongoing issues”, namely the constant flow of doping scandals within Russian Athletics and the protection of women’s rights within the sport, with World Athletics being one of the first sporting bodies to ban transgender women from competing in women’s races.
Also, the new Council has actually become the first to have an equal split of male and female members, at 13 each, proving that Coe has furthered athletics’ reputation as a whole for being arguably the most gender equal sport there is.
However, Coe may not serve his entire term. But it’s not because of any corruption scandals. It is rather because Coe has expressed interest in taking on the role of President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, there will be fierce competition for the role when the 142nd IOC Session in Athens arrives, with several candidates thought to be running (though not all of them have publicly expressed an interest or their intention to just yet). These include:
While I can’t say I know who the favourite to win the next election is, I feel that given the controversies surrounding Bach, including him ostensibly turning a blind eye to Russia’s state-sponsored doping scandal; confusing Japanese and Chinese people while visiting Hiroshima; visiting China to discuss the 2022 Winter Olympics just weeks after tennis star Peng Shuai went missing (having accused a government minister of indecent assault) and a bunch more allegations, there is quite a good chance that he won’t be re-elected. Me being me, I think Baron Coe is a good candidate to replace him.
I realise that there are places where Coe could do better. Prize money in the industry is still minuscule compared to other sports, with a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships giving an athlete just $70,000 (and consider there are at least 30 people contending in most events). Several national bodies are having financial struggles, particularly here in the UK, where they have lost millions of pounds in recent years. The handling of Caster Semenya’s case hasn’t been dealt with quickly enough. I feel like not enough is being done to outline rules on certain drugs, what can and what cannot be used, particularly in recent years where athletes have been banned for having trace elements of relatively harmless substances in their system.
But even though he has his faults, when compared with countless Presidents of sporting associations, from Infantino to Rubiales, Blatter to Diack, I look at him and when he handed out medals at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a genuine smile on his face, I think to myself, what a decent guy we seem to have here. I for one am very happy to have such a brilliant leader at the helm of what is, in my opinion, the most exciting sport there is.
The Sports Insider 