IAAF President Sebastian Coe steps down from his ambassadorial role with Nike, insisting it's not due to a conflict of interests and says the Russian athletics federation must make serious changes to its anti-doping systems before it will be allowed to take part in international competitions. SHOWS: MONTE CARLO, MONACO (NOVEMBER 26, 2015) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. IAAF PRESIDENT SEBASTIAN COE (GREY SUIT) SHAKING HANDS WITH JOURNALISTS 2. COE TAKING TO REPORTER 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAAF PRESIDENT SEBASTIAN COE SAYING: "It's not a conflict of interests. Actually, I asked the (IAAF) ethics committee to look very closely and clearly at it and although they have concluded it was not a conflict of interest because I have always continued to identify that interest as I have everything else I've done, I decided that I did not need the distraction of the 'noises off'. We are focused here entirely and unflinchlingly on steadying the ship. My teams here are working 18 hours a day to do that and I really wanted no more distractions ." 4. COE TALKING TO REPORTER 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) COE SAYING OF RUSSIA SANCTIONS: "No there is no deadline. It is for the IAAF to decide the right and proper moment for the Russian federation and their clean athletes to get back into competition. You'll understand as a clean athlete and I'm surrounded on my council by clean athletes, that it is our instinct to get clean athletes back into competition but that is entirely predicated on the implementation of the criteria, the verification team chaired by Rune Andersen, the team that we will be sending over and the speed with which we can get that process up and running. And only then, when we're entirely satisfied that we have enacted the change that we want will we welcome back the clean athletes." 6. COE TALKING TO REPORTER STORY: Sebastian Coe is stepping down from his ambassadorial role with Nike, the IAAF president said on Thursday (November 26). Coe, who leads the governing body of world athletics, has worked as a paid ambassador for the sportswear firm, but faced repeated questions from a varity of sources about a potential conflict of interest. An internal Nike email leaked this week appeared to show him supporting the bid of Eugene, the U.S. city with close links to the company, to host the 2021 world athletics championships. Coe also announced that CSM, the sports marketing firm he heads, will not tender for any contracts that might lead to allegations of a conflict of interest. The Briton also said he was stepping down as chair of the British Olympic Association (BOA) after next year's Rio Games. "It's not a conflict of interests. Actually, I asked the (IAAF) ethics committee to look very closely and clearly at it and although they have concluded it was not a conflict of interest because I have always continued to identify that interest as I have everything else I've done, I decided that I did not need the distraction of the 'noises off'. We are focused here entirely and unflinchlingly on steadying the ship. My teams here are working 18 hours a day to do that and I really wanted no more distractions," said Coe. His relationship with Nike was thrust deeper under the spotlight this week when he faced fresh allegations about his involvement in the controversial award of the 2021 world championships to Eugene. In April this year the hosting rights were surprisingly awarded without a bidding process. The then-president of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations), Lamine Diack, supported the idea to give Eugene hosting rights. But in the light of the 82-year-old being investigated by French authorities over a doping corruption scandal, many observers questioned the validity and transparency of the decision. On Tuesday the BBC published internal emails it said it obtained from Nike that suggested Coe gave support to the U.S. city's bid. The emails raised questions about whether there was a conflict of interests in Coe, who succeeded Diack as IAAF chief in August, supporting Eugene's bid given his links to Nike. Turning to the suspension of Russia because of doping, Coe said: "No there is no deadline. It is for the IAAF to decide the right and proper moment for the Russian federation and their clean athletes to get back into competition. You'll understand as a clean athlete and I'm surrounded on my council by clean athletes, that it is our instinct to get clean athletes back into competition but that is entirely predicated on the implementation of the criteria, the verification team chaired by Rune Andersen, the team that we will be sending over and the speed with which we can get that process up and running. And only then, when we're entirely satisfied that we have enacted the change that we want will we welcome back the clean athletes."

• published: 30 Nov 2015
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