Coe Admits IAAF Faces Credibility Crunch-On the Scene

(ATR) IAAF president Sebastian Coe denies allegations that he was aware of doping cover-ups by predecessor Lamine Diack and his confidants.

A report from theWorld Anti-Doping Agency Independent Commissionreleased today claims that the problem was so bad it is hard to believe Coe and other members of the IAAF leadership were not aware of the misdeeds of Diack.

"It is increasingly clear that far more IAAF staff knew about the problems than has currently been acknowledged. Continued denial will simply make it more difficult to make genuine progress," the report reads.

Commission chairman Richard Pound led an hour-long news conference in Munich where he attributed some blame for the scandal on the failure of Coe and colleagues to take action.

But Pound also said Coe was the best person to lead the IAAF to reform.

Following the news conference, Coe immediately fled the room as reporters, cameras and journalists chasing him through the Dolce Munich Hotel. After spending time behind a closed conference room door, Coe finally spoke to members of the media in small groups.

"Yes, of course the council asked questions around the escalating number of positives," Coe, the former IAAF vice-president and council member said of widespread doping in Russian athletics.

"The issue is a very simple one – once we were told that certain things were being dealt with and addressed, were we in a position to really understand if that was the case. Were we even in a position to understand if these conversations had taken place."

"Also, you have to understand the nature and it’s probably one of the failings of sport – I was a vice-president, one of five including a treasurer, and that probably amounted to just ten days of the year," Coe told reporters. "It was a pretty honorary, it wasn’t operational."

"That is clearly what I will change," said the two-time Olympic 1500-meter champion who took over the helm of the sports body from Lamine Diack in August 2015.

Coe said that the 89-page report released prior to the news conference that Pound conducted along with fellow IC members Richard McLaren and Guenter Younger, will ultimately help the sport find redemption.

"It will help us – there’s no monopoly of wisdom here," Coe said of the damaging report. "This is a very complex, deeply painful process for the sport to go through."

"We have to make sure that we’re never ever again in a situation where a council is not in a position to challenge or verify actions that it is being told are taking place on its behalf," Coe said.

Coe also emphasized that he was unaware of an email that former IAAF deputy secretary general Nick Davies sent to Papa Massata Diack, the son of the former president Lamine Diack, about a secret plan to delay naming Russian dopers before the 2013 world championships in Moscow. The email was sent in July 2013 and leaked to the media in December.

The IAAF issued a statement on Thursday afternoon regarding the detailed findings and recommendations revealed in the second IC report.

"The IAAF fully acknowledges and accepts the extreme gravity of the Commission's findings. The weakness of IAAF’s governance which has been exposed allowed individuals at the head of the previous regime at the IAAF to delay the following of normal procedures in certain doping cases," the statement said.

"Each and every one of the measures that the Commission has recommended to strengthen IAAF governance has been fully noted. The IAAF will incorporate those recommendations into the root and branch governance review which was begun by IAAF President Sebastian Coe immediately he came into office."

"The road to redemption is not going to be swift or easy," Coe said of the turmoil that the IAAF has faced ever since a German TV documentary on Russia’s culture of doping aired in December 2014.

"We can’t sit here and tell people when to trust us. They will make that judgement and they will make it on the changes that we’ve made."

Russian Athletics at Rio 2016?

Coe also gave a brief update on progress made by an IAAF task force monitoring the All-Russian Athletics Federation and its attempt to become WADA code compliant and clean up widespread doping practices.

"It is progressing – I’m due to have a conversation tomorrow with Rune Andersen," Coe said of the inspection team chair. "I think he felt the first meeting was very constructive."

"The timetable is a very clear timetable – it will be when it is," Coe said. "When Rune tells me that I have reason to be confident that the changes and criteria that we’ve laid down have been met, and crucially this is not a one-off change, but a cultural shift as well, then will clean Russian athletes be back in action."

Pressed by ATR whether or not Russian Athletics can make the necessary changes and reforms in time to compete at the Rio Games in August, Coe remained non-committal.

"I haven’t set a timeframe," Coe said. "Meet the criteria and then we will review it."

Written by Brian Pinelli in Munich.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.