Coates wins bitter fight to remain AOC chief | Sunday Observer

Coates wins bitter fight to remain AOC chief

7 May, 2017

Long-time Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates on Saturday beat off challenger Danni Roche to remain the president of the AOC.Coates, who has been the president of the Australian Olympic Committee for 27 years, won a secret ballot 58-35 after a bitter campaign for the presidency at the AOC AGM in Sydney.”

Thank you very much for the confidence that you have shown in me,” Coates told the meeting after the ballot results were announced.Coates, 66, dubbed the most powerful individual in Australian sport, has been AOC President since 1990 and a Vice President of the International Olympic Committee since 2013.

He now faces the task of uniting a split Olympic movement as he extends his presidency to three decades.He has declared this will be his last three-year term of office and has vowed to step down after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.The strength of Roche’s campaign will put pressure on Coates to change the way the AOC is operated.

Roche had campaigned on a platform urging reforms to the AOC’s culture and governance, and pledged to cut overheads and the president’s exorbitant Aus$700,000 (US$526,000) salary with a view to spending the extra cash on athletes and underfunded sports.

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