IOC move on election rules puts up legal hurdles to Coe running for top Olympic job
In a move by the IOC that ap‐ parently could block Sebastian Coe as an expected presidential candidate, the Olympic govern‐ ing body has clarified its com‐ plex election rules before a deadline Sunday to enter the race.
A letter seen Wednesday by The Associated Press was sent by the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission to the 111 members, including Coe and several more likely candidates in the contest to suc‐ ceed Thomas Bach next year.
Details in the two‐page letter dated Monday specified reasons why the likes of Coe, the 67‐ year‐old president of track gov‐ erning body World Athletics, would seem unable to complete a full first IOC mandate of eight years.
The winning candidate must be a member of the IOC on elec‐ tion day, scheduled for March in Greece, "and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President," the letter stated.
Coe's IOC membership is con‐ ditional on being president of World Athletics, a role he must leave in 2027 on completing the maximum 12 years in office.
Another expected candidate, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who turns 65 in November, also could have legal issues with the standard age limit of 70 for members defined in the Olympic Charter rules book.
Members turning 70 can be extended only once for four more years, though such an ap‐ proval for Coe by the IOC execu‐ tive board also would still expire during a 2025‐33 presi‐ dency.
The charter "makes no excep‐ tions for the president, who is an IOC member under the same conditions as all the other mem‐ bers," stated ethics commission chairman Ban Ki Moon, the for‐ mer United Nations secretary general, who signed the Sept. 9 letter.
Coe is widely considered a most qualified candidate to next lead the IOC. A two‐time Olympic champion in the 1,500‐ meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain, led the 2012 London Olympics organiz‐ ing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.
The legal hurdles are stacking up just days before the IOC‐set deadline for candidates to send a letter of intent to Bach, who will leave as president next year after reaching his 12‐year term limit.
Kirsty Coventry, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer who is sports minister of Zimbabwe, and David Lappartient, the French president of cycling's governing body, have seemed to have support from Bach in re‐ cent years.
Bach placed Lappartient to oversee a long‐term project with Saudi Arabia, hosting the Esports Olympic Games, that was sealed in Paris.
Other candidates could in‐ clude two of the four IOC vice presidents — Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Spaniard Sama‐ ranch, whose father was IOC president for 21 years until leaving in 2001.
Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jor‐ dan is a potential candidate who could be the first president in the IOC's 130‐year history from Asia or Africa.
The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of manag‐ ing sports, understanding ath‐ letes' needs and nimble skills in global politics.
However, Coe's strong posi‐ tions in sports politics — against Russia on state‐backed doping and the invasion of Ukraine, plus awarding $50,000 cash prizes for Paris Olympics gold medals from track's share of Olympic revenues — have clashed with the IOC and lead‐ ers of other sports bodies.
The letter signed by Ban also suggested a conflict of interest between holding two presiden‐ tial roles, of the IOC and a sports governing body.
This conflict could be re‐ solved, the letter said, by having a vote after the IOC presidential election "for a change of mem‐ bership status."
Britain, however, no longer has a quota space for another IOC member elected as an indi‐ vidual. That's because Hugh Robertson, the government's Olympics minister at the time of the 2012 Summer Games, was elected in Paris in July.
The IOC needs a new presi‐ dent only because Bach said in Paris last month he would not seek to stay on by changing the statutory maximum of 12 years for the position.
The IOC has had nine presi‐ dents in its 130‐year history. All have been men and none were from Africa, Asia or Latin Amer‐ ica.
The candidates must come from the IOC membership that comprises invited members in‐ cluding royalty from the Middle East and Europe, a current head of state — the Emir of Qatar — former diplomats and lawmak‐ ers, industrialists, and leaders of sports bodies and athletes.