John Coates Wins Reelection as AOC President

(ATR) Veteran Australian Olympic Committee president, John Coates, has survived a challenge to his leadership from Atlanta 1996 hockey gold medalist Danni Roche.

Coates, who was first elected to the position in 1990, won a secret ballot this morning in Sydney, 58 votes to 35. Forty Summer and Winter Olympic sports had two votes each, and the 11-member executive had one vote each. The Athletes Commission had two votes, and they'd been committed to Coates prior to the ballot.

He had never before been challenged for the presidency, but Roche campaigned on a platform of change, saying she would bring a fresh approach to the leadership of the AOC. She also promised to do the job for nothing, saying she would channel the $AU 715,000 a year salary currently paid to Coates, back to the athletes.

It has been a very bitter campaign.

Sydney-based Coates came under sustained fire for his leadership style, his salary (many similar roles are honorary positions), allegations of bullying and for the breakdown in the relationship between the AOC and the Australian Sports Commission. The ASC is a federal government agency, chaired by Melbourne investment banker John Wylie, which is tasked with promoting all sport. Coates accused the Commission and Wylie of wanting to seize control of a $AU 150 million AOC fund, established by Coates after the Sydney Olympics. Careful management has seen the initial $AU 90 million grow substantially, and Coates has been adamant the AOC must remain completely independent of government. He chairs the fund, and the AOC uses the profits to send teams to summer and winter Olympic Games, as well as youth Olympics. More than $AU 100 million has been spent since the Sydney Games.

Melbourne-based stockbroker Roche is the daughter of an Olympian, and on the board of the ASC, and Coates accused her of acting merely as a proxy for Wylie, a charge she denied. She argued it was time for Coates to move on, after 27 years in the top job, but delegates to the AGM in Sydney have decided he can have one more term.

Coates promised prior to the vote that this would be his final term anyway. He has overseen the appointment of a new CEO of the AOC, former sailing boss Matt Carroll, who will now take over most of Coates' roles. The new board of the AOC will also review Coates' salary, and will investigate an alleged bullying culture that critics say flourished under his rule. He has rejected the allegation.

Coates said before the vote he would be stepping away from much of the day to day presidential responsibilities if he was returned. Carroll and the new executive will take a much more hands on role, freeing Coates to concentrate on his IOC roles, principally helping Tokyo prepare for the Summer Games of 2020. He also warned Australia would have a much-diminished role at the IOC if he lost the vote. Coates will now be able to see out one more term as president of an organization he has nurtured for almost three decades.

Homepage photo: Getty Images

Written and reported by Murray Olds in Sydney

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