Honorary Parachute Packed for John Coates

(ATR) Just in case he isn’t re-elected as Australian Olympic Committee president, a soft landing is prepared for John Coates.

After 27 years as president of the AOC, Coates faces a serious challenge to his re-election at the May 6 annual general meeting of the committee.

Coates, 67, is opposed by Danielle Roche, 44, 1996 gold medalist in field hockey and a business executive in Melbourne.

Coates has said this will be his last term, while Roche is campaigning to bring a new face to the AOC leadership.

Should Coates lose his bid for a final four years as AOC president, resolutions have been properly filed and placed on the May 6 agenda that would confer upon Coates the title of honorary president. The resolution is requested by Hockey Australia, the national governing body for field hockey for which Roche served as a director for eight years. She is no longer an officer.

The honorary title would presumably satisfy any doubts about his AOC connections that could affect his IOC membership. He joined the IOC in 2000 and is the senior member in Australia. Coates is due to reach IOC retirement age in three years. Currently one of four vice presidents, Coates chairs the IOC Commission for the 2020 Olympics, serving as the de facto voice for the IOC on Tokyo. He’s also chair of the IOC Legal Affairs Commission as well as president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The AOC released the agenda for the May 6 meeting today along with the annual report thatdetails the activities and finances of the previous year.

According to the report, sponsorship revenue for the AOC in the 2013-2016 quadrennial totaled $AU 49.61 million, a 25 percent increase over the previous quad. The AOC report notes that the increase came despite the "challenging" time zones of both Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016.

Expenses for the quadrennial totaled $AU 88 million, which balanced with the same amount of revenue for the period. Administration is listed as the top expense, $AU 17 million, followed by $AU 10.9 million for employee benefits. Commissions paid for the sale of sponsorships amounted to $AU 6.4 million.

After sponsorship revenue of $AU 49 million, the next largest share of revenue came from the Australia Olympic Foundation, which distributed $AU 25 million to the AOC from 2012 to 2016. The foundation is the repository of the $AU 100 million surplus from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

The salaries of key executives at the AOC are listed in one of the tables in the financial report.

As has been reported previously, Coates tops the list with $AU 729,000 paid in 2016. Roche has made an issue of the payment to Coates, saying she will serve as AOC president without recompense.

Former CEO Fiona de Jong is next with $AU 552,000. Kitty Chiller, chef de mission for the Rio Olympics, was paid $AU 112,500 for that work. Mike Tancred, director of media and communications, was paid $AU 330,000 in 2016.

In addition to the presidency, the AOC will elect two vice presidents and seven executive board members at the May 6 meeting.

Written by Ed Hula.

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