Sebastian Coe is proud of what he has achieved in his four years as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), even if he does joke that “it just feels longer”.
When he was elected in Beijing in 2015, Coe was adamant that he would “continue to put the interests of athletics first” and he has, for the most part, succeeded.
There have been choppy waters to negotiate – and Coe’s hand has been admirably steady on the tiller as the Russian doping allegations continue to rock the sport – but the former Olympic gold medallist has not yet grown weary of the responsibility.
On Thursday, at the Sport Business Summit in Abu Dhabi, Coe announced that he was likely to run again for president. “I have a passion to see this through,” he said.
“There is a lot of change that we need to embrace in the sport. I think we’ve made a pretty reasonable start, some of it in fairly challenging circumstances. It’s a matter for the sport but I’d like to be given the opportunity.”
Speaking to Coe after his presentation, one thing is clear: his mind is still buzzing with ideas about how to improve athletics and broaden its appeal. “No sport is more accessible or has the kind of numbers we have,” he says.
“We have hundreds of millions of people in the course of a week who register as leisure runners. That’s a massive asset for any sport to have.”
And he is particularly keen to tap into the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. “Sixty per cent of the global population lives in Asia,” he says. “There is a commercial market that is very important and we haven’t always realised the potential in that market.”
Coe also points to the “world class” athletes emerging across the Middle East. “There are athletes that have come through and are performing at the highest level in [the] Diamond League and World Championships [and] that has begun to shift the dial,” he says. “I’m a great believer that it’s about events – they are a great motivator for young people.”
One of the ways in which Coe believes athletics can do better is in making the competitors – as well as the complexities of certain events – more accessible to viewers watching at home.
“There is a need for athletes to accept that new technologies are going to be a little more invasive,” he says, suggesting, for example, that cameras could be closer to the start line for sprints. “It is what connects them with spectators and brands.”
Coe put it even more bluntly earlier in the day: “Usain Bolt is not enough any longer to sell our sport.”
Does Coe think he could have done more in this area at the London Olympics in 2012? “You can only use the technology that’s available and that explodes exponentially each year,” he says. “There are things that we are going to be adopting in future that will make our sport more understandable to people.”
At the forefront of this evolution will be the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Coe, a member of the Olympic Games Coordination Commission, refuses to be drawn on what innovations are being developed but says, “technology is going to be important for them”. There is a note of warning, however. “This is a complicated sport, we shouldn’t pretend otherwise,” he says. “That’s one of the unique assets we have.”
Coe knows better than anyone, though, that no amount of technological innovation will save the sport if it continues to be undermined by doping allegations. The pubic must believe that what they are seeing is fair. Key to achieving this is the ongoing World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) investigation into the state-sponsored doping operation in Russia.
On December 31, Russia failed to provide data to Wada from its Moscow laboratory, eventually doing so two weeks after the deadline had passed and could be banned from Tokyo 2020 if evidence arises that the data was tampered with. Russia is currently banned by the IAAF from competing in international competitions.
“I can’t speak on behalf of Wada but I can tell you where we are,” says Coe. “We have the criteria, it’s very clear and it was agreed with the Russian federation.
"The answer to the question you are almost certainly going to ask – when will the time be right [to lift the ban] – is that the time will be right when the criteria is met but not before.
“We’re talking about some deep seated, cultural pathologies here and it’s not just about safe and secure systems, it’s about creating a generation of coaches that believe it’s possible to take an athlete from the playground to the podium with integrity. That doesn’t happen overnight. When Wada was formed back in the Nineties, it was a very different landscape. But we now have technologies available to us that we didn’t have them.
“I know this is slightly counter narrative but I do genuinely believe that international sport is a darn sight safer and more secure than it was even 10 years ago.”
Coe is happy to discuss doping in athletics but it clearly pains him to see the sport he loves, and which he has been involved in since the age of 12, brought so low by this ongoing scandal. Is he hopeful that athletics can eventually move on from this? “There is a growing acceptance among athletes and among our stake holders that sport has to be based on open competition, trust and transparency,” he says.
Coe must ensure that this is the case in athletics. It is not about his own legacy. Much more is at stake. “There is a growing acceptance that in a world of fragility, in a world of disruption, actually often sport is one of the stabilising influences,” he says. “We’re building pathways where other people are building walls.”
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
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FIXTURES
Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)
Friday
Inter Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Saturday
Atalanta v Verona (6pm)
Udinese v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Juventus (11.45pm)
Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (6pm)
SPAL v Brescia (6pm)
Torino v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Parma (9pm)
Bologna v AC Milan (11.45pm)
Fight card
1. Featherweight 66kg: Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg: Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg:Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg: Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg: Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg: Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg: Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Ahmed Abdelraouf of Egypt (EGY)
9. Featherweight 66kg: Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: Health-tech
Size: 22 employees
Funding: Seed funding
Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Honeymoonish
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Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
Schedule for Asia Cup
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan