Rage from disgruntled AOC employees will follow John Coates forever

THE explosive review into the “toxic” environment of the Australian Olympic Committee will haunt president John Coates for the rest of his career.

President John Coates (L) says he was unaware of a toxic culture in the AOC.

IN early May, when John Coates weathered the first challenge in his 27-year presidency of the Australian Olympic Committee, there was a suspicion old habits would soon erase promises of a fresh start.

Plagued by bullying accusations, dysfunction and shoddy workplace culture, the nation’s peak international sports body was put on notice from all points of its own compass.

The AOC’s athlete cohort was aghast at Coates’ signature hubris, brazen politicking and continued enabling of accused serial offender Mike Tancred.

Retired and contemporary officials were dismayed as Coates’ simpering acolytes did whatever demanded to stave off challenger Danni Roche.

Out of the ashes, however briefly, there was hope the AOC would reinvent itself as an organisation worthy of respect. Even trust.

DAMNING: Australia’s toxic Olympic scars exposed

But three months later, little appears to have changed. The cynicism was justified.

As he was in May, Coates was on Thursday adamant he is unaware - and therefore blameless - of a toxic culture that has claimed the career scalps of a string of accomplished AOC employees.

Fiona de Jong, Sue O’Donnell, Ryan Wells and a host of other talented staffers have left the AOC in traumatic circumstances, some having to sign confidentiality agreements on their way out.

Interpreting the Ethics Centre’s report into the AOC would not have made for comfortable reading for Coates and new chief executive Matt Carroll.

President John Coates (L) says he was unaware of a toxic culture in the AOC.

Fear, hostility and favouritism were among the terms used to capture the essence of AOC culture.

But, given the allegations against Tancred that he threatened to “bury” de Jong and “kill” Wells, the language is pathetically temperate.

What the authors of the report may not have counted on is the simmering rage of the victims in this saga.

If the AOC expects the individuals and families affected by one of the tawdriest chapters in Australian sport to accept a Coates-led organisation will reform, it is mistaken.

Tancred has already been cleared of bullying de Jong.

Mike Tancred is pocketing his $330,000 pay check.

The verdict in the Wells complaint is pending. There is no confidence Tancred - still trousering his $330,000 wage - will receive much more than another feather-duster beating.

Whatever the outcome, and regardless of AOC posturing over its willingness to redeem itself, there is substantial hostility among the victims.

Where that lands ultimately remains to be seen.

But it is certainly an issue that will threaten to haunt Coates all the way to Japan and his AOC presidential abdication.

And for a man so consumed with image, and so influential on the international stage, it would be an unbecoming end to a distinguished career.