Seb Coe Chosen as Preferred IAAF Presidential Candidate by New Zealand

By Christian Radnedge

Seb Coe has received the backing of the Board of Athletics of New Zealand to become the new president of the International Association of Athletics Federations in August.

The board announced this week that their delegate to the IAAF Congress in Beijing will vote for the Briton to succeed Lamine Diack as head of the organisation.

Coe, viagra the chair of the British Olympic Association, clinic challenges for the presidency alongside his fellow IAAF vice-president Sergey Bubka – who also heads up his own national Olympic body in Ukraine.

As far as New Zealand is concerned, viagra it is Coe who has the right skills to take over as president.

Speaking on behalf of the Board, Athletics New Zealand Chief Executive Linda Hamersley said: “Lord Coe is a very strong candidate for the Presidency and Athletics New Zealand believes he has the skills, experience and vision to take the IAAF and athletics into a new era. Lord Coe stands for integrity, trust and growth – pillars critical to a strong future for the sport.

“With the ever increasing need for ethics, integrity and transparency in our sport and the dark cloud that doping continues to play, we need our leaders to take a stand in that regard. Lord Coe’s fourth pillar in his manifesto states ‘ensuring integrity and trust in everything we do’.

“That resonates with the Board as we introduce a new Ethics Regulation, adopt Sport New Zealand’s model Anti-Match-Fixing Policy and adopt the recently amended IAAF Code of Conduct.

“His focus on engaging with youth to cultivate the future of athletics is something that Athletics New Zealand fully supports and see as necessary for the sport to continue to develop.”

Coe launched his manifesto late last year with youth a key part of his plan for the future of the organisation.

Earlier this year, he said: “We’re not broken, we’re not a failed sport, we’re not actually a failing sport but we have to recognise, as I did in that London journey, that the biggest challenge we have is that we have not attracted young people.”

New Zealand are now the second country to publicly back Coe after Jamaica pledged their support in February.

Hamersley added: “Because members of the Athletics New Zealand Board and Senior Management have had a number of meetings and spent time in recent years discussing the issues with both Lord Coe and Sergey, we have a very good understanding of the work that both candidates want to implement at the international level.

“At a meeting with Lord Coe earlier this year it was clear that both our agendas are closely aligned and what he wants for the International Federation, the Board and Senior Management want for Athletics in New Zealand. This is a major factor in our support of Lord Coe.

“With the exceptionally high-calibre of both candidates, regardless of the outcome in August, athletics internationally is well-placed for the future.”

Seb Coe outlined his vision for the IAAF presidency previously to iSportconnect here. 

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