Former AOC boss John Coates tears popular TV star Sandra Sully to shreds

John Coates has launched an extraordinary attack on Sandra Sully after the TV star reached out to the Australian Olympics great.

Olympics legend John Coates has launched a shocking attack on Channel 10 newsreader Sandra Sully.

Coates, 74, is one of the most influential people in the modern history of the Olympic Games, previously the vice president of the International Olympic Committee and a key figure behind the successful Sydney and Brisbane bids to host the Games.

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In a wide-ranging interview with The Australian, Coates took the opportunity to launch a broadside at 60-year-old Sully, who he said contacted him about a role on the Australian Olympic Committee board.

Coates’ issue appears to stem from an extremely difficult period in his life, when he was challenged for the AOC presidency by former Hockeyroo Danni Roche back in 2017.

In a public and damaging period, Coates was accused of bullying and corruption ahead of the AOC presidency vote that year, which he ultimately won.

Former AOC boss John Coates blasted TV star Sandra Sully. Picture: Richard Walker

Coates (left) with Michael Knight and Kevan Gosper ahead of the Sydney Olympics. Photo: Brett Faulkner.

Coates was president of the AOC from 1990 to 2022 before standing down, replaced by current head Ian Chesterman.

Coates felt betrayed by a number of figures over the 2017 ordeal, including some involved in hockey, so he was taken aback when he was contacted by Sully, a former director and vice-president of Hockey Australia.

“What would she know about sport?” Coates put to the masthead.

“She had the hide to ring me this time and tell me she was standing for the AOC (board) and could I spend some time meeting (with her).

Sandra Sully was shocked to hear of the spray. Britta Campion / The Australian

“I said to her, ‘I’m honorary life president, I’m not involved in any of this, it would be wrong’. I didn’t even raise Danni Roche.”

Roche, 54, was part of the gold medal-winning Hockeyroos side at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

In a stoush that descended into accusations and name calling, Roche was the first person to challenge Coates’ presidency since he was appointed in 1990 in what ultimately proved an unsuccessful bid.

Sully had a stunned reaction when informed of Coates’ comments by The Australian.

Danni Roche challenged Coates for the AOC presidency in 2017. Photo: News Corp

Coates shakes hands with Roche after the AOC vote in 2017. Photo: Peter Parks/AFP

“It’s very disappointing that John Coates wants to make this personal when I merely emailed him and asked for a meeting or a brief chat,” she said.

In rare public comments, Coates spoke at length about his battles with cancer, being propositioned for bribes by IOC members, his friendship with outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach and his hopes for the Brisbane Olympics.

But his shot at Sully was among the comments raising the most eyebrows.

You can read much more from Coates’ interview, including more of Sandra Sully’s response, here in The Australian.

Originally published as Former AOC boss John Coates tears popular TV star Sandra Sully to shreds