LAUSANNE: World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe is the highest profile of the seven candidates to have declared on Monday their bid to succeed International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
Coe will face stiff opposition from, among others, Kirsty Coventry, bidding to become the first woman and African to head the IOC, and cycling boss David Lappartient.
The election will be at the IOC Session in Athens, which runs from March 18-21 next year.
Bach, 70, is standing down after serving 12 years. The German announced at the end of the Paris Games that he would not be seeking another term.
The other four candidates include two from Asia — another continent never to have had an IOC president — Jordan’s Prince Faisal Al-Hussein and gymnastics chief Morinari Watanabe.
Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, whose father of the same name was IOC president from 1980-2001 and transformed it into a commercial powerhouse, and a surprise entrant, ski federation president Johan Eliasch, round up the candidates.
First up for the septet is presenting their respective programs to the IOC members at the turn of the year.
“The candidates will present their programs, in camera, to the full IOC membership on the occasion of a meeting to be held in Lausanne (Switzerland) in January 2025,” read a short IOC statement unveiling the candidates.
There will be a transition period post election — not something Bach enjoyed when he succeeded Jacques Rogge in 2013 — with the new president and his team assuming control in June.
Coe among seven candidates to succeed Bach as IOC president
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Coe among seven candidates to succeed Bach as IOC president
- Coe will face stiff opposition from, among others, Kirsty Coventry, bidding to become the first woman and African to head the IOC, and cycling boss David Lappartient
- The election will be at the IOC Session in Athens
Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise
- Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins
MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.
