AOC chief faces rare leadership challenge

SYDNEY: John Coates, an IOC vice president and one of the most influential sports administrators in the world, is facing a challenge to his role as Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president for the first time since winning the role in 1990.

Olympic hockey gold medallist Danni Roche launched her surprise bid for one of the top jobs in Australian sport on Monday and is calling for an overhaul of the organisation’s leadership.

Roche, who won gold with the Hockeyroos at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, was nominated by her sport on Monday to contest the election for a four-year term at the AOC’s Annual General Meeting on May 6.

Coates, a former rowing cox, played an integral role in Australia winning the right to host the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and delivering a highly successful Games.

The 66-year- old is also the head of the IOC’s coordination commission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

He has, though, become embroiled in a public feud with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) head John Wylie since the Rio Olympics and last month accused the head of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Matt Favier, of plotting to depose him. — Reuters