Skip to main content
Morning Star Conference
Coe the builder: Can he fix it?
IAAF president stands by claim he is the right man to lead athletics after being quizzed for almost three hours by MPs

SEBASTIAN COE boldly said yesterday that he is the right man to fix athletics, as a selection of MPs grilled him on the current state of the sport.

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Coe was quizzed for almost three hours in front of the culture, media and sport select committee investigating blood doping in athletics following allegations made by the Sunday Times in August.

And when asked by Ian Lucas MP why, as an “insider” of the IAAF and Fifa — “organisations which have been bedevilled by corruption” — why Coe believes he should be leading athletics, he replied: “Because I have the experience to do that. I have the support of the sport to do that.”

Coe was questioned on a range of topics, from his recently terminated deal with Nike to his comments on the media in the wake of the doping scandal.

But he waffled when asked by Paul Farrelly MP whether or not he could prove that the Qatar 2019 bid is clean.

When Farrelly asked if he woud investigate, he couldn’t give a straight answer to which Farrelly said: “I’ll take that as a No.”

Coe did say he regretted the language used but not the sentiment when describing investigations into suspicious blood results as “a declaration of war on our sport.”

He said: “I described the use of selected data against clean athletes in exactly those terms. I don’t step back from that.

“I stick by the sentiments. I probably might have chosen different language.

“It probably expressed my frustration and, yes, anger at the time.

“I’m sorry this has mutated into an attack on the media.”

He insisted the IAAF was “not a corrupt organisation” and is eagerly awaiting the next independent World Anti-Doping Agency report.

“People tend to forget this is not simply about athletics. But I will wait with interest the second report,” Coe added.

When the subject of his relationship with Nike, he again denied a conflict of interest — a charge previously levelled by committee member Damian Collins, among others.

Coe last week ended his 38-year ambassadorial role with the sportswear giant.

Coe said: “I made the judgement, given the level of noise around the relationship, that this had become a monstrous distraction, that reality and perception had become horribly entangled and I didn’t want anything to distract from the changes I’m making.”

The US city of Eugene, Oregon, which is home to Nike, has been awarded the 2021 IAAF World Championships, without a bidding process, after missing out on the 2019 event.

Support the Morning Star
You can read five articles for free every month,
but please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.
More from this author
Brentford's Neal Maupay celebrates scoring their side's firs
Men’s football / 3 December 2023
3 December 2023
Real Madrid's Jose Vinicius Junior in action during the UEFA
Men’s Football / 22 May 2023
22 May 2023
KADEEM SIMMONDS stresses the need for harsher punishments for hate speech in football
Manchester United legend Andy Cole with Kadeem Simmonds afte
Simmonds Speaks / 10 August 2021
10 August 2021
Similar stories
The start line of the London Landmarks Half Marathon, hosted
Athletics / 6 April 2025
6 April 2025
DAVID CONWAY discusses how going the distance is becoming increasingly inaccessible for working-class athletes who wish to compete
Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Com
Athletics / 25 March 2025
25 March 2025
Aim for testing to begin in September to ensure ‘integrity of female sport’
Sport / 21 March 2025
21 March 2025
CLASS STRUGGLE: In the long history of strikes at British Le
Opinion / 25 February 2025
25 February 2025
JOHN GREEN recommends that rare thing, a British novelist who is politically aware, entertaining and who writes to the moment