The culture of the Australian Olympic Committee "will not change while John Coates remains its president," former CEO Fiona de Jong said, according to REUTERS. De Jong left the AOC last year "amid claims of bullying" against one of Coates' key execs, while an independent review released on Wednesday "painted a less than rosy picture" of the organization. De Jong said that the findings of the report were "consistent with her experience" while running the organization and she "had tried to change its culture but was stymied by Coates." She said, "Unfortunately I would say there was no appetite for meaningful change from the very top of the organization. I worked like hell to try to change the culture that I inherited and I lost count of the number of initiatives I tried to introduce and the efforts I went to try to address that." De Jong added that Coates needed to take a "more hands on approach" to earn his A$700,000 ($554,100) salary (REUTERS, 8/27). In Sydney, Tracey Holmes reported de Jong "accepts her portion of the blame but others must accept theirs too." The only responsibility Coates publicly accepted was appointing sports administrator Matt Carroll as de Jong's replacement. Coates originally praised de Jong when she left the organization stating she was "one of Australia's top sports administrators." That view "soured" earlier this year when de Jong went public regarding an official complaint she had lodged against "longtime Coates minder," AOC Media Dir Mike Tancred. An investigation into "a number of bullying allegations" made against Tancred is due to be finalized next week (ABC, 8/27).
