GENEVA: In a move by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that could potentially block Sebastian Coe as an expected presidential candidate, the Olympic governing body has clarified its complex election rules ahead of the deadline this Sunday to enter the race.
A letter seen on Wednesday by the Associated Press was sent by the IOC's ethics commission to its 111 members, including Coe and several more likely candidates in the contest to succeed Thomas Bach next year.
Details in the two-page letter, dated Monday, specified why Coe, the 67-year-old president of the track governing body World Athletics, might seem ineligible to complete a full first IOC mandate of eight years.
The winning candidate must be a member of the IOC on election day, scheduled for March in Greece, "and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President," the letter stated.
Coe's IOC membership is conditional on being president of World Athletics, a role he must vacate in 2027 after completing the maximum 12 years in office.
Another expected candidate, IOC Vice-President Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who turns 65 in November, could also face legal issues with the standard age limit of 70 for members, as defined in the Olympic Charter rules book.
The charter "makes no exceptions for the president, who is an IOC member under the same conditions as all the other members," stated Ethics Commission chairman Ban Ki-moon, the former United Nations secretary-general, who signed the 9 September letter.
Coe is widely regarded as the most qualified candidate to lead the IOC next.
A two-time Olympic champion in the men's 1,500 metres, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain's parliament, led the 2012 London Olympics organising committee, and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.
The legal hurdles are stacking up just days before the IOC-set deadline for candidates to send a letter of intent to Bach, who will step down as president next year after reaching his 12-year term limit.
Kirsty Coventry, an Olympic gold medallist swimmer who is now the sports minister of Zimbabwe, and David Lappartient, the French president of cycling's governing body, have had support from Bach in recent years.
Other candidates could include two of the four IOC vice-presidents – Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Spaniard Samaranch, whose father was IOC president for 21 years until 2001.
Prince Feisal al-Hussein of Jordan is another potential candidate, and he could become the first president in the IOC's 130-year history to come from Asia or Africa.