"If there are athletes who do not want to be in this World Cup, I understand it; if there are athletes who do not like this country, say so, but do not come with excuses such as the ecological footprint generated by the air conditioning in the stadium Khalifa, I have never forced athletes to compete here. When I was in the elite, for example, I never went to South Africa because I was not happy with apartheid policy. Two years ago, at the World Cup in London, I am surely there were also uncomfortable athletes with the foreign policy of the United Kingdom, for example. We are a global sport, we cannot stay alone in 10 or 12 countries, we need to expand and I am very happy to be celebrating this World Cup in Qatar. "
Sebastian Coe , unchained. The now president of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) charged Friday against critical athletes with the Qatar World Cup in a meeting with the Spanish press at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha. The double 1,500 meter Olympic champion in Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 was not cut in his statements.
"I do not remember a World Cup with so much level: the facilities are almost perfect, the athletes have everything within their reach to compete, the brands are being fantastic and the television show is very good. I have spoken with people from the NBC and the BBC and they are very happy I obviously don't like to see empty seats in the stadium, but the attendance is growing every day that goes by I can't afford to sit in a television studio and spend the day counting the gaps in the stands [in reference to the criticisms received at the BBC, where he got involved with the commentators], I have to look beyond. There have been certain problems, we must also have geopolitical news [Qatar lives under the blockade of some of its Arab neighbors], but I am delighted. "
Coe came to the meeting with the defensive speech learned and, in addition to congratulating Orlando Ortega for his bronze after "a fair decision of the Court of Appeal", only allowed a complaint to the organization of the World Cup in Qatar: the heat. After the dantesco show of tests such as the women's marathon, the top leader of world athletics recognized that the conditions are being "extreme", but little else.
"I have to admit that in the road tests there have been harsh conditions. But the athletes also lack context. I also remember a lot of heat in Seville 99 or even in Moscow 2013. This time, in addition, we have organized the greatest medical support of always Evan Dunfee told me [bronze in the 50 kilometers march], that he had never competed with so many assists around. There are many athletes who have prepared very well to compete here and we have put everything on our side to litigate the effects of heat: we passed the World Cup to October, the tests are held at dawn and, I repeat, the medical service is impeccable.I am not a man in a suit sitting in the box, in the women's marathon I was in the medical center and all the athletes were taken care of at the time, there was no serious case of dehydration. "
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