Relevance, trust and leadership keys for bright athletics future, says Coe

Athletics must continue moving ahead in all aspects to restore credibility and stay relevant and trustworthy, the president of the ruling body IAAF, Sebastian Coe, said yesterday as he opened the Athletics Connect convention.Noting that “the Samaranches, Blatters and Ecclestones are never going to be left in positions of unfettered power for that length of time” again, Coe highlighted term levels for IAAF top officials as one step in the right direction for the showcase sport.But Coe identified “a triangular deficit of trust, relevance and leadership,” saying: “It is up to us to address these challenges and deficits.“The core of these reforms is about trust and integrity. We want people in our sport to behave, to act and raise the standards of conduct,” the two-time 800m Olympic champion Coe said.The day-long meetings at the ExCel convention centre featured workshops in areas ranging from governance, anti-doping and coaching to event presentation and engagement with fans.The IAAF Congress, a plenary session, follows today, on the eve of the world championships in London’s Olympic Stadium.Under Coe’s leadership since 2015, athletics and the IAAF have been confronted with a criminal investigation against ex-president Lamine Diack on corruption suspicion and a wide-ranging doping scandal around Russia, which remains suspended from the IAAF.“Our sport has been sorely tested in the last two years,” Coe said. While admitting that many problems have been tackled with among others term limits and the creation of the Athletics Integrity United to fight doping and other manipulation, Coe said there was more work to be done.“We all talk semi-knowledgeable about millennials, young people. Do we really know what their choices are, their thinking, what their actions mean for our sport?” Coe asked as athletics may no longer be a preferred sport for youngsters who have a myriad of choices.Event reforms and a stronger social media presence are some of the areas that have been tackled, and restoring trust after all the scandals will also give athletics a boost.Coe referred to the long-time IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch (21 years), FIFA boss Joseph Blatter (17 years) and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone (around 40 years) when he said term limits were necessary “so that we have oxygen always breathing through the organisation” which itself has seen just five presidents before him in 105 years.Another cornerstone is the Integrity Unit — as doping remains a major issue which was also raised the previous day by Jamaican super sprinter Usain Bolt.“It had to get really bad, now the only way is up. We are going in right direction,” Bolt said.Coe admitted there will always be cheaters but reform was necessary to make it clear “that we are always in the corner of the clean athletes and that cheating will not be tolerated.”He added: “The Athletics Integrity Unit is really the first of its kind that is addressing those failings we need to fix. It also promotes debate, discussion and transparency,”A look at past records, currently conducted in Europe, is another aspect, with European athletics chief Svein-Arne Hansen saying: “We are doing this for the credibility of the sport and the clean athletes of the future.”