Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

IAAF President Wants Public To 'Simply Appreciate' Mo Farah's Achievements

IAAF President Sebastian Coe has been "rolling with the punches for decades," but a year into his presidency he is "throwing some of his own," according to Rick Broadbent of the LONDON TIMES. So he "will not bow down" to Russia President Vladimir Putin and wants a review of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He is also "adamant that the Rio de Janeiro Olympics should not be dubbed the Asterisk Games because of the whiff of disbelief." Two years of "relentless scandal have been bruising for credulity," but the IAAF head believes that people should "simply appreciate the brilliance" of Mo Farah, whose double distance Gold was achieved while his coach, Alberto Salazar, was being investigated by the US Anti-Doping Agency. Coe said that "he can sympathise because his own feats also attracted suspicion." Should "adulation for Farah come with a USADA-stamped caveat?" Coe said, “No, absolutely not. There are some systems where you can’t have that presumption of innocence any more, but Mo -- and I am not here as his spokesman or his defender -- has made all his readings public." As he enters his second year as IAAF president, Coe "wants sweeping changes from athletes and officials." He believes that WADA may "now be outdated and unable to catch the cheats." Coe: "Is the same organization responsible for the regulatory framework going to be your world policeman? Nobody wants to talk about it, but there needs to be a grown-up discussion with WADA and the IOC. WADA was set up in 1999 and the world has changed." Change also needs to be "wrought by athletes." He added, "It is not enough for clean athletes to sit there and say, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ Are people prepared to stick their heads above the parapet? If an athlete has any doubt at all about a coach then they should show them the door." Coe is about to travel the world "stressing the need for an IAAF integrity unit." He insists this is "neither gimmick nor FIFA ethics-style oxymoron," but an independent body that will remove national federations from the process of imposing bans and "dog-ate-my-homework" excuses (LONDON TIMES, 9/12).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2016/09/13/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Seb-Coe.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2016/09/13/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Seb-Coe.aspx

CLOSE