Did secret emails help Coe land top IAAF job?
Colleague’s guidance may have broken rules
LORD COE’S rise to the position of president of world athletics was aided by the use of secret emails from inside the IAAF that would appear to be at odds with the governing body’s code of ethics.
Sportsmail has seen documents that show how Coe was being covertly assisted by Nick Davies, the then deputy general secretary of athletics’ governing body, the IAAF.
Using a false name and email address, Davies provided guidance and intelligence to Coe and his team ahead of an election that saw the double Olympic champion become IAAF president.
This could be in breach of IAAF rules on elections to the organisation that state that ‘ candidates shall not request support or service from IAAF staff, consultants, agents or advisers in connection with their candidacies’.
In one email Davies, now under investigation by the IAAF ethics board having emerged as a central figure in the Russian doping scandal, has clearly been advising Coe and his election team on how best to word a document concerning a campaign promise of an ‘Olympic dividend to member federations’ if he becomes president.
Written by Helen Delany, the international relations adviser at UK Sport, whose own role in Coe’s campaign has come undernder scrutiny because she is funded by public money, the email says: ‘I’ve just picked up an email from Nick with a recommendation to include the following . . .’
More astonishing, however, is the attempt to conceal Davies’s involvement. The email refers to ‘Nick’ when in fact he is a recipient via a secret email address under the pseudonym ‘Manolo Yanes’. The actual email address was noproject19@gmail. com; a reference to the date of the election. Coe is not a direct recipient of this particular email but Delany, as a leading member of his campaign team, sent the email from a ‘sebcoeathletics’ email address.
The relevance of the email goes beyond an apparent breach of regulations that could well force the IAAF’s ethics commission to investigate.
It seemingly illustrates the strength of a relationship between Coe and Davies that spanned a decade and raises further questions about how much Coe knew of alleged corruption inside an organisation he served as both a council member and vice-president prior to last summer.
The IAAF said Coe had not sought the support of Davies, though they did not deny his help was accepted.
Coe has consistently claimed he knew very little about the allegations. But sources have told Sportsmail how close he was to a man who knew an awful lot.
In the second part of their report into the Russian doping scandal, the independent WADA commission said that ‘Davies was well aware of Russian “skeletons” in the cupboard’. Indeed he was singled out for heavy criticism, having not revealed what he knew when previously interviewed by WADA investigators.
In an email sent in July 2013 and published shortly before Christmas by Le Monde, Davies discusses a secret plan to delay naming Russian dopers before the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
IN the same email Davies also suggested the IAAF might use Coe’s political influence as well as the expertise of his sports marketing firm, Chime Sports Media, to orchestrate an ‘unofficial PR campaign’ to deal with negative stories.
Last night the IAAF issued a statement. It said: ‘Lord Coe did not ask Nick Davies to support his election campaign. Nick Davies chose to support it of his own volition, because he thought Lord Coe’s election was in the best interests of the IAAF. Lord Coe did not promise Mr Davies anything in return for his support. Nor did he ask Mr Davies to conceal his support by using a particular email address.
‘Nick Davies did not tell Lord Coe that doping cases involving Russian athletes had been delayed or otherwise compromised.
‘The first of ARD’s documentaries outlining the serious allegations of corruption involving Russian athletes aired on the same day that Lord Coe officiallyy announced he was runningnning for president in Decembereme 2014.’ While the statement claims Davies - was the instigator, the IAAF do not deny Coe accepted the support of Davies.
In fact they worked closely throughout the campaign. Indeed d shortly after becomingng president in August Coe promoted Davies to direcffi
director of the president’s office; essentially his chief of staff.
After the publication of the email in Le Monde, Davies stepped down from his duties and will not return to his position unless he is cleared by the ethics board. He denies doing anything wrong.
Within the sport there is sympathy for Davies. While former president Lamine Diack is among those at the centre of a criminal investigation into allegations of extorting money to conceal positive drug tests, Davies appears to be the fall guy from within the Coe regime.
A loyal mandarin, Davies had been led to believe he would be promoted from communications chief. In the end Davies’s bitter disappointment was eased by his appointment as deputy general secretary. In the last few months, other informinformation has emerged that has led to questions of hhow much Coe knew ababout the impending ccrisis. On the same dday Coe promoted Davies to his chief of staff, he made Huw Roberts his senior llegal counsel. Roberts was among ththe first to raise the alaralarm. Coe has said he and Roberts never discussedcussed ssuch matters. Coe was also the IAAF official to whom UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner was referring when he said the London 2017 bid team had been warned of rumours of bribes ahead of the vote for the host of the world championship. Coe has said he had no knowledge of actual bribes being offered.