AOC president John Coates snubbed by ex-champion diver

A FORMER champion athlete has rejected John Coates’ invitation to join his AOC board ticket, a telling rebuff before Saturday’s ­historic election.

John Coates’ invitation to former champion diver ­Michael Murphy to join his Australian Olympic Committee board ticket has been rejected. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images for the AOC

FORMER champion diver ­Michael Murphy has rejected John Coates’ invitation to join his Australian Olympic Committee board ticket, a telling rebuff before Saturday’s ­historic election.

A Harvard graduate and dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Murphy is ­regarded as a rising star within business and sports administration circles.

The banking executive was belatedly approached by Coates to shore up support after Tracey Gaudry abandoned plans to run for the board after her appointment this week as Hawthorn Football Club chief executive.

Originally overlooked by Coates, Murphy said on Wednesday he would remain independent and vie with nine other candidates for seven board spots.

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Dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist Michael Murphy.

“I confirm I am not on John’s ticket,” Murphy said.

“I have maintained a balanced, independent position through this campaign and it’s important from an integrity perspective I stay the course.

“All sides seem to appreciate and respect this. I’m confident I’ll work constructively with either president and any board formation.”

Murphy, triple Olympic gold medallist Rechelle Hawkes and current board members Nicole Livingstone and Danielle Woodward were left off Coates’ ticket as the veteran leader prepares to face presidential rival Danni Roche in the vote.

Meanwhile Coates has spoken out for the first time in the bitter leadership campaign to accuse Roche of being a “puppet” of his Melbourne based arch-rival, John Wylie, who heads the Australian Sports Commission.

Roche, who lives in Sydney, has denied working at the will of anyone else. He said the Melbourne-backed Roche leadership bid was an attempt to get hold of the AOC’s $142 million war chest and use it to boost the ASC’s Winning Edge elite sport funding scheme.

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Former Olympic Hockey gold medallist Danni Roche has denied working at the will of anyone else. Picture: Ian Currie

He accused the Melbourne sporting elite of having a “grudge” against him because he helped Sydney win the 2000 Olympics and moved the AOC offices to Sydney.

He vowed to take a cut in his $729,000 pay if re-elected and said he had anticipated a Melbourne led leadership challenge but “didn’t anticipate they would be so well prepared or that it would be such an intense campaign”.

Coates and the AOC are under fierce scrutiny after Australia’s dismal 10th placing at last year’s Rio Olympics.

Roche’s challenge, the first in Coates’ 27 years at the helm, has flushed out serious concerns at the AOC about over ­finances, workplace practices and bullying accusations, capped by the abrupt resignation of highly regarded chief executive Fiona de Jong.