How the AOC election works: Coates, Roche, in presidency vote

An extraordinary Australian Olympic presidency contest is finally decided on Saturday. Here is what you need to know.

AOC contenders: John Coates, right, and Danni Roche.

The bitter battle to lead Australia’s Olympic family will finally come to an end on Saturday, when either John Coates or Danni Roche elected as AOC President.

It has been a remarkable campaign — and not just because this is the first time Coates has been challenged since he took the role in 1990.

Ahead of Saturday’s ballot, here is everything you need to know about the candidates, key platforms, the voting procedure and the backstory to the vicious campaign.

CANDIDATES

President
John Coates: Incumbent. Held the role, unchallenged, since 1990. International Olympic Committee vice-president; Court of Arbitration for Sport president. Six- time former Australian Olympic team chef de mission.Paid $715,000 a year.
What he said: “This is the time when I have the most influence in the Olympic movement.”

Danni Roche: Challenger. Olympic hockey gold medallist at 1996 Games. Australian Sports Commission board member; former Hockey Australia director; currently senior investment manager at Ord Minnett.
What she said: “The need for change at the AOC is now clear. It needs to change, and it needs to change now.”

Vice-President (two positions)
Helen Brownlee. Incumbent: NSW Olympic Council president. Oceania Canoeing president.
Ian Chesterman. Incumbent: Australian winter Olympic team chef de mission for 2018 Games, his sixth Games as team leader.
Andrew Plympton: Australian Sports Commission board member. Former Sailing Australia president. Former St Kilda Football Club (AFL) president and chairman.

Executive (seven positions)
Matt Allen, Mark Arbib, Craig Carracher, Kitty Chiller, Evelyn Halls, Rechelle Hawks, David Hynes, Nicole Livingstone, Michael Murphy, Danielle Woodward.

HOW THE VOTE WORKS

The election is a secret ballot of 40 sports — thirty three from the summer games (each represented by two delegates) and seven from the winter games (each represented by two delegates). The current AOC executive also has 11 votes, with two votes coming from the AOC athletes commission. There will be a total of 93 votes. Should it be a tie, Coates will have the deciding vote.

The ballot takes place at 9am on Saturday at the MCA in Sydney. A breakdown of the votes will be revealed but we will not find out which sports supported which candidates.

The ballot for the president will be followed by the ballots for the two vice-presidents and the seven executive members, equivalent to AOC board members.

The primary business of the AOC is to send Australian teams to Olympic Games. Its core responsibility is the few weeks, every two years, that it assumes stewardship of our summer and winter Olympic athletes.

Former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong. Picture: Getty

A BITTER BATTLE

Beleaguered Olympic boss Coates has been mired in controversy during the campaign. Former chief executive Fiona De Jong left last year and has since claimed there was a culture of bullying in the AOC office. In December 2006 ASC chairman John Wylie wrote to Coates, proposing they “reset the working relationships of the organisations and ourselves for the common good of Olympic sport in this country”. The letter also suggests the ASC, given it’s

the major investor in Olympic teams, have a role in selecting the Australian team’s chef de mission. Coates responded to Wylie, accusing the ASC of disregarding the autonomy of the AOC. He publishes his letter of response on the internet.

On April 22 De Jong, via the media, told of her formal complaint against AOC media director Mike Tancred, saying she’s frustrated at the lack of action in dealing with her complaint.

Four days later Mike Tancred stood down as media director until the de Jong complaint is resolved. De Jong released a letter outlining a dozen alleged cases of workplace bullying within the AOC since 2004.

He this week described Roche as a “puppet’’ for Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie, whose main aim was to get his hands on the AOC’s $146 million in resources.

WHO IS IN THEIR CORNER?

Olympians spanning 60 years, from 1956 (Olympic medallist Marlene Matthews) to 2016 (Rio Olympic rower Kerry Hore), and including Olympic greats Herb Elliott and Cathy Freeman, have endorsed Coates. Writing in The Australian, Elliott insisted: “Those champing at the bit for change should sit back and contemplate what is best for the kids that are to become Olympians.”

Swimming Australia president John Bertrand said the organisation was formally backing former Hockeyroo Danielle Roche. Diane Smith-Gander, a former chairwoman of Basketball Australia and a director of corporate giants Wesfarmers and AGL Energy is part of a group of influential women involved in business and sport backing the campaign for Hockeyroos Olympic champion Roche. Swimming legend Dawn Fraser has joined a growing chorus, declaring that after 26 years with Mr Coates atop the AOC, “it is time for a change’’.

WHAT THEY STAND FOR

Coates has emphasised his achievements He has defended his legacy and reminded the sports how they have benefited from his patronage. His pitch is that due to his influence within the IOC and particularly, as chair of the co-ordinating commission for Tokyo, his value to Australia’s Olympic movement has never been greater. He argues that if AOC term limits are adopted, no Australian will ever rise to prominence within the IOC. He has also confirmed that he would seek just one more term as president and would stand down in 2021.

Roche’s reform platform includes term limits for AOC office holders, a review of all AOC spending to prioritise sports and athletes, the return of AOC president to its original, largely honorary role and a healing of the destructive rift between the AOC and the government agency which funds sport, the Australian Sports Commission.

A QUESTION OF FUNDING

Coates has pointed to his record of extracting money from government for sport, saying he was responsible for securing $55m of the $118m the federal government distributes to the sports each year through successful negotiations with various sports ministers over the past 26 years.

Roche argues Coates’s $700,000 salary and other administrative savings at the AOC could return $3m to the sports over the next four years. She also argues that the AOC does not distribute enough of its earnings to sport.

ESSENTIAL READING

The Australian’s Chip Le Grand and Nicole Jeffery have been covering the AOC battle in depth for months. Here is some key background reading ahead of the election.

• Battle of Olympic proportions
• AOC staff email fuels John Coates fight
• Roche vows to ease restrictions
• Champions rally around Coates
• Coates to let loose in fight
• AOC in crisis mode

All material sourced from previous reports in The Australian/AAP.