AOC presidential election: Danni Roche to review sponsorship if elected

AN immediate review of the Australian Olympic Committee’s in-house sponsorship operation will be one of Danni Roche’s first priorities if she rolls John Coates on Saturday.

AN immediate review of the Australian Olympic Committee’s contentious in-house sponsorship operation will become one of Danni Roche’s first priorities if she rolls John Coates in Saturday’s presidential election.

The AOC has not put the lucrative sponsorship and licensing fees deal out to tender in 31 years after first awarding the rights to a company in which Coates was a founding director and company secretary.

The company, Sports Marketing and Management, has been paid millions in commissions since 1986. Coates, who acted in an honorary capacity for SMAM, stood down from its board in the late 1980s.

John Coates has been challenged for the Australian Olympic Committee presidency. Picture: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Lagardere Sports, which has taken over SMAM, is understood to have secured an extension of the exclusive sponsorship rights until 2032, a deal which has frustrated rivals calling for an open tender ­process.

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The Herald Sun last month exclusively revealed the AOC paid out more than $6 million in commissions in the last Olympic cycle — almost a third of what was spent on the team.

The AOC outlaid $19,952,852 on the summer Olympic team between 2013-16, while playing Lagardere and SMAM $6.4 million as Australia slumped to 10th on the overall medal tally.

Lagardere operates out of the AOC plush Sydney offices under the direction of Michael Bushell, a close personal friend of Coates.

Bushell was given the AOC’s order of merit in 2010.

And Coates singled out ­Lagardere in the 2015-16 AOC’s annual report.

“I thank Lagardere Sports for achieving these results and the commercial services they provide in managing our sponsor relations, including since early 2015 by relocating their sponsor servicing personnel to the AOC’s Sydney office,” he said.

In an interview with the Herald Sun last month, Coates attempted to justify his $729,000 consultancy fee by claiming: “If you look at the amount I am paid, I do largely the marketing on the AOC’s side, the interaction with the marketing agent and IOC ... I draft the programming and funding guidelines.”

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Atlanta gold medallist Roche, a successful businesswoman, has promised to forensically review every aspect of AOC expenditure amid claims the embattled organisation has been spending up to 52c in every dollar on administration.

She said she would also introduce a provision for an annual $100,000 salary package for the president, down from approximately $750,000.