Head of world athletics Sebastian Coe on Tuesday faced fresh allegations about his involvement in the controversial award of the 2021 World Championships to the city of Eugene, Oregon, but insisted he had acted fairly throughout.
In April, the hosting rights were surprisingly awarded without a bidding process, much to the surprise of the Swedish city of Gothenburg, which was in the process of preparing to present its own case.
Then-International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack supported the idea of giving Eugene hosting rights. However, in the light of the 82-year-old being investigated by French authorities over a doping corruption scandal, many observers have questioned the validity of the decision.
On Tuesday the BBC published internal e-mails it said it had obtained from Nike — the sportswear company closely linked to Eugene and which pays Coe a retainer — which it claims suggest Coe also gave support to the US city’s bid.
The e-mails have raised questions about whether there was a conflict of interests in Coe, who succeeded Diack as IAAF head in August, supporting Eugene’s bid given his links to Nike.
One e-mail from January from Nike marketing executive Craig Masback to Vin Lananna and Robert Fasulo, both from “Track Town USA,” the organization behind Eugene’s bid, reads: “He [Coe] made clear his support for 2021 in Eugene, but made equally clear he had reached out to Diack specifically on this topic and got a clear statement from Diack that ‘I am not going to take any action at the April meeting to choose a 2021 site.’”
The IAAF also published the e-mail on its Web site on Tuesday, along with answers Coe gave to questions on the issue.
“I did not lobby anyone on behalf of the Eugene 2021 bid,” Coe said. “After their narrow defeat [to Doha] for the 2019 World Championships, I encouraged them to re-enter another bidding cycle, as they had a strong bid.”
“All my interests were, and continue to be, fully declared to the IAAF ethics committee and listed at the House of Lords,” he said.
Coe said he always thought there would be a bidding process until Diack told the council: “There were political and financial considerations in terms of the way the funding package came together for Eugene that may not be present again and we should award 2021 to Eugene.”
The council voted, in secret, 23-1, with one abstention to give the event directly to Eugene.
Despite Coe’s explanation, Bjorn Eriksson, leader of the Gothenburg bid at the time and former head of Interpol, told the BBC: “The idea we don’t even get the chance to deliver an offer, we don’t get the chance to be judged. That makes me still furious.”
“It smells and it has to be investigated,” Eriksson said.
However, an IAAF spokesman told reporters: “There is nothing to revisit. This was a democratic decision of the IAAF Council.”
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