AOC elections: Presidential rivals to come face to face at lavish Sydney Harbour cocktail party

PRESIDENTIAL rivals John Coates and Danni Roche will come face to face at a lavish cocktail party overlooking Sydney Harbour as the AOC vote rests on a knife edge.

AOC presidential rivals John Coates and Danni Roche will come face to face at a lavish cocktail party overlooking Sydney Harbour on Friday night.

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PRESIDENTIAL rivals John Coates and Danni Roche will come face to face at a lavish cocktail party overlooking Sydney Harbour on Friday night as the Australian Olympic Committee vote rests on a knife edge.

Coates will make an 11th-hour pitch at the president’s “cocktail function” at the ­Museum for Contemporary Art in Circular Quay hours ­before he faces the first election in his 27-year reign.

Drinks and canapes will be mixed with a large dose of ­lobbying as challenger Roche closes in on getting the numbers needed to usher in a change at the top.

Coates, the nation’s most powerful Olympic figure, will address an audience made up of national sports federation representatives, state Olympic councils.

Roche has also been invited but won’t get the chance to ­address the room. A Herald Sun poll of the 33 summer and seven winter sports on Monday gave Roche a narrow lead in the historic election.

Danni Roche will not get a chance to address the room. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Both Roche and Coates have already made pitches to sports ranging from badminton to volleyball to garner support for Saturday’s vote.

Coates’ election hopes were weakened on Monday when Tracey Gaudry abandoned plans to stand for the board as part of the veteran president’s seven-member ticket.

Gaudry made the decision after being elevated to the Hawthorn chief executive’s role.

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Coates controversially omitted champion athletes ­Nicole Livingstone, Danni Woodward, Michael Murphy and Rochelle Hawkes from his ticket, drawing sharp criticism.

A record 15 candidates will stand for seven board vacancies, two vice-president positions and the presidency.

Among the issues most important to uncommitted federations is the dysfunction between the AOC and Australian Sports Commission and concern over funding models.

There is also the fear of a government-driven takeover of the AOC multimillion-­dollar war chest, a theory ­rejected by Roche.

John Coates will make an 11th-hour pitch at the president’s “cocktail function”. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images for the AOC

Roche, an Olympic hockey champion who sits on the ASC board, says she would immediately remove tensions between the two peak bodies in Australian sport, if elected.

Australia’s Olympians — active and retired — have been urged to contact the AOC athletes’ commission to help shape the vote.

Headed by Beijing gold medallist Steve Hooker, the 11-member commission will vote in secret on Thursday after discussing the merits of Coates’ and Roche’s credentials.

The commission will also decide which of the two vice-presidency candidates it will support — Heather Brownlee, Ian Chesterman or Andrew Plympton.

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