AOC President John Coates accuses AIS Director Matt Favier of plotting to oust him
Updated
AOC president John Coates has accused AIS director Matt Favier of telling a group of sports managers in Canberra last October "to tell your CEOs now is your time to get rid of Coates, or words to this effect."
The ABC has seen the letter, sent earlier this week, in which he also informed Mr Favier he would be frozen out of any joint planning and preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.
It is the first time Mr Coates' exact reasons for suspecting that Mr Favier has been working to unseat him at the AOC AGM in May, and interfere with the independence of the AOC itself, have been revealed.
In the letter, Mr Coates also accused Mr Favier of telling the managers that departing AOC CEO Fiona de Jong is leaving "because of Coates", and that sports should be looking at Mr Coates' consultancy earnings of $700,000 per year.
The leaking of this letter marks an increasing willingness by Mr Coates and his supporters to pick a fight with the ASC, which till now has not responded specifically to emerging details of the stoush.
Some senior sports administrators believe sporting organisations that have seen the benefits of Mr Wylie's Winning Edge program are sympathetic to seeing the end of Mr Coates' 27-year long reign.
Mr Coates' steel grip on lucrative marketing rights around the Olympics has also prompted grumbles for some in sport.
In any case, it is an unseemly fight, throwing a complicated mess on the table of Sports Minister, Greg Hunt, in his first few weeks on the job.
The intense animus between the sporting chiefs was first exposed with a heated meeting at last week's Nitro Athletics series meet in Melbourne.
Mr Coates also believes Australian Sports Commission chief John Wylie has been working against him, resulting in open warfare between the country's top two sporting chiefs.
The ABC has also learned Mr Coates has today sent a letter sharing his correspondence with Mr Favier to members of the AOC executive who had not been told.
Yesterday, Mr Coates delivered a draft agreement to work with the ASC, which specifically excluded Favier from the Tokyo planning, while at the same time extending an invitation to other members of the AUIS medical and sports science team.
The ASC and AIS have been contacted for comment.
Topics: athletics, sport, olympics-summer, australia
First posted
