LAUSANNE: Australian John Coates was yesterday named as chairman of the Coordination Commission for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced.
The 63-year-old Coates is head of the Australian Olympic Committee and also vice-president of the IOC, as well as being president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
IOC president Thomas Bach also named ex-Namibian sprinter Frank Fredericks as chairman of the coordination commission for the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018.
Bach added that Arne Ljungqvist, Gerhard Heiberg and Hein Verbruggen will continue in their roles as chairmen of the Medical Commission, Marketing Commission and OBS, respectively, until after the Sochi Olympic Winter Games in 2014 “to ensure continuity in the preparations”.
The terms of all three had been set to expire after the IOC Session in Buenos Aires last month.
The IOC said that Puerto Rican Richard Carrion, who was beaten by Bach in the vote for president, would “continue to lead the TV negotiations already under way outside Europe until the Sochi 2014 Games” despite his decision to resign from his different positions within the IOC.
Bach asked IOC member Ser Miang Ng to chair the next meeting of the Finance Commission in December, the IOC said. AFP
