Coe spent most of the 40-minute news conference answering questions about his decision to cut his ties with sportswear company Nike and though the Russian Federation situation was expected to be the main topic of the council meeting, he said it had only been “touched upon”.
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Athletics’ governing body said Coe could remain in the role but he said it was “a distraction to the 18-hour days we are working to steady the ship”.
He had defended his role with Nike as recently as Sunday, saying he didn’t lobby on behalf of the company regarding IAAF’s April decision to award the 2021 world championships to the city of Eugene, Ore., where Nike was founded.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist told reporters that the IAAF Ethic Committee had no objection to him continuing his Nike role – on the condition he “clearly and consistently declared all interests”.
“I don’t believe it was a conflict of interest”, Coe stressed.
With Coe having ceded his Nike role, at the cost of 100,000 (142,000 euros) per year, there were calls for his role as IAAF president to be properly salaried.
“The issues that I’ve been dealing with in the last few weeks, the reform of the organisation, the challenges faced by the organisation across two or three fronts, needs an unflinching focus and the “noises off” are frankly a distraction and I can see that”.
The Briton, who is dealing with the aftermath of Russia’s suspension from world competition, also said he was stepping down as chair of the British Olympic Association (BOA) after next year’s Rio Games.
Coe, who took over from Lamine Diack in August, has said the sport he graced as a world-beating middle distance runner has been “shamed” by a series of doping and corruption revelations many observers consider even more damning than those engulfing world soccer body Federation Internationale de Football Association.
Months later Eugene was awarded the 2021 competition without a contest, to the disappointment of rival bidder Gothenburg.
Seb Coe’s parking spot at Nike HQ.
“Our commission is composed of a mixture of current and recently retired worldwide athletes from the six continental areas”, said Fredericks.
In other business, the IAAF council discussed the doping crisis in Russian Federation and gave a green light to setting up a new integrity unit.
“We will cooperate with (the) nominated commission very actively”, Butov said.
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Such claims emanated amid a wider corruption scandal which has engulfed the sport, principally state-sponsored doping within Russian athletics, which Coe, as IAAF president, is charged with resolving.
