After losing IOC election, how about Seb Coe for chair of football regulator? Sport Business It was, with hindsight, not a “keep Seb Coe out” but a “get Kirsty Coventry in” campaign that determined the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential election outcome. I was as guilty as most British observers in believing that Seb Coe would take it to the wire. Unconscious bias and all that. In the event, eight [...]
Tennis sceptics have got it wrong – we need more mixed-sex sport events Sport Business Some players aren’t happy with the US Open’s drastic rethink of mixed doubles, but tennis should be applauded for a move that is good for women’s sport, says Ed Warner. Even the most ardent tennis fan probably couldn’t tell you who won the mixed doubles at last year’s US Open, or any of the other [...]
IOC in dock over boxing gender row as IBA takes Trump-inspired legal action Sport The International Boxing Association (IBA) has launched legal action against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over its inclusion of gender eligibility row boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting at the Paris 2024 Games. Citing President Trump’s recent order banning trans athletes from women’s sport, the IBA said it was filing official complaints with the attorney [...]
Sport in 2025: A rallying cry to London, Mayor Khan and Londoners January 2, 2025 For at least the past five years it has felt as if London was disappearing off the global sporting stage. The capital may boast the Home of Cricket, 17 professional football clubs and five stadiums with a capacity of over 50,000 but huge sporting events have sought refuge in the likes of Saudi Arabia, the [...]
Battle for IOC presidency needs rigorous candidate tests January 2, 2025 The position of president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) isn’t quite the leadership of the free world, but is arguably more influential on the global stage than the heads of many nations, both free and not-so-free. It comes with far fewer constraints on the post-holder’s power too. Little wonder that seven sporting presidents, vice-presidents, [...]
Ed Warner: Seb Coe, Gary Glitter and the most powerful job in sport September 19, 2024 Seb Coe, newly confirmed as one of seven candidates for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is regarded as a serial vote winner. It wasn’t always thus. Witness his single term in office as the MP for Falmouth and Camborne in Cornwall, ousted by Candy Atherton as Labour swept to power in 1997. [...]
Ed Warner: The Paralympics is heading for a transgender row in Paris August 22, 2024 A row over the eligibility of Italian transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo looms over the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, showing why para sports must be independent from organisers the IPC. It is increasingly difficult to find footage online of Raygun at Paris 2024. For a brief moment it seemed the Aussie breakdancer who launched a thousand [...]
Paris 2024 prize money: How much did World Athletics pay to each country? August 11, 2024 Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, controversially said they would pay gold medallists. Some nations pay there athletes with financial rewards and other assets such as titles and land, but it is not common for a governing body to pay athletes at the Olympic Games. [...]
Why arguing against prize money for Olympic athletes is irrational and outdated May 13, 2024 It’s time for the rational brain to take over. These are not the beliefs of a modern, diverse and multi-ethnic society.