Lausanne (AFP)
Briton Sebastian Coe, president of the International Athletics Federation, became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday after a vote after his candidacy was repeatedly delayed.
The two-time 1,500m Olympic champion was held back by suspicion of a conflict of interest when he was one of the managers of a consulting company specializing in the sports world, CSM.
After having changed his status within the company, from operational to non-operational manager, his candidacy was proposed and widely approved (77 votes for, 8 against, 6 abstentions) at the 136th IOC session held on Friday by video- conference.
The 63-year-old Briton thus completes a CV already well stocked after having been in particular a Member of Parliament and patron of the London Olympics in 2012 and while he has been President of World Athletics since 2015.
The IOC approved the candidacies of four other people on Friday: Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, the Cuban Maria de la Caridad Colon Ruenes, Olympic champion in the javelin throw in 1980, the Croatian Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of the Republic of Croatia from 2015 to 2020 and the Mongolian Battushig Batbold.
© 2020 AFP