German Athletics Federation (DLV) President Clemens Prokop on Thursday said that his country "is likely to have paid a price for its tough anti-doping stance and recent doping revelations" on German TV as it missed out on an IAAF council seat after 20 years, according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Prokop said that he was disappointed the DLV, the world's biggest national athletics federation by membership, "did not get voted onto the council" of the IAAF on Wednesday when Briton Olympic champion Sebastian Coe was elected as its new president. He said, "I don't know exactly why but I have three reasons." Prokop had been campaigning to succeed fellow countryman Helmut Digel on the council "but got just 45 votes in the second round of voting." Retiring Digel had been an IAAF Council member since '95. Prokop: "I did not offer any gifts like some candidates did and I am proud of that, secondly there was a reform of anti-doping in my manifesto and thirdly the (recent) coverage of doping in German media and I am proud to be living in a country with a free media landscape." He added, "I only know the rumors but I saw that some candidates were liberal with presents." Prokop also said that the participation of athletes who had been banned for doping but now were cleared to compete again was "morally questionable" (REUTERS, 8/20). The BBC reported 11-time Paralympic Gold Medalist Tanni Grey-Thompson said that Coe is a "future president" of the IOC. She welcomed Coe's appointment, but believes it is a "stepping stone." She said, "I don't think this is the end for him. I think he's going to end up as IOC president." She added, "Probably six years from now you could see him making another move" (BBC, 8/20).
NIKE CONNECTION: In London, Matt Lawton commented Coe has said he will feel "queasy" should Justin Gatlin, "or any other convicted drugs cheat, win gold at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing." As the new president of the IAAF, "that is understandable." But "what was troubling on Wednesday" was Coe's "apparent reluctance" to recognize the "obvious conflict" in remaining an int'l ambassador for Nike now that he has become "the most powerful man in the sport." Indeed, he "bristled at the suggestion that it was even a problem." But that "would be the same Nike that took the hugely controversial, cynical decision to sponsor the twice-suspended Gatlin back in March" when it sensed a 33-year-old now running "faster than ever might have it" in those aging legs "to conquer the Puma-backed Usain Bolt." The same Nike currently at the center of an investigation "being conducted by domestic and international doping agencies into the Alberto Salazar-run Oregon Project." Hell, "the same Nike implicated" in the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into corruption at FIFA over the "not-so-small matter" of an alleged $40M bribe to secure the contract for the Brazilian football team's kit deal (DAILY MAIL, 8/20).
