Sebastian Coe criticises IOC election process

Sebastian Coe on Friday criticised the election process for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee, just days away from a vote to decide if he becomes the most powerful figure in sport.

Coe is one of the frontrunners among the seven candidates in the election to succeed Thomas Bach as leader of the Olympic movement. 

The vote takes place next Thursday in Costa Navarino, Greece.

The Briton, the president of World Athletics, has been frustrated by the brevity of the 20-minute presentation that each candidate was allowed to give to the 109-strong club of IOC members that will elect the new leader.

Coe, 68, also bemoaned the lack of access to the IOC members.

“Is it a process that needs looking at? Yes it does,” he said in a call with international agencies.

“I think there are better and more inclusive ways of doing that.”

Asked what needed improving, he said: “More access to the members, more transparency.”

He added: “It has been difficult to engage and I don’t think those are the guiding principles of an election.

“An election is very important, in one big way, in that it gives people the opportunity to have a conversation.

“In future, this needs to be a more open and expansive process.”

Coe’s main rivals are Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, the son of the man who led the IOC for 21 years until 2001, and Kirsty Coventry, the Zimbabwean seven-time Olympic swimming medallist.