FIFA World Cup and Olympics cited as Coe warns of politicians near sport

World Athletics’ president says political influence in sport must be kept in check with LA Olympics on horizon. Sebastian Coe has a simple approach to avoiding political interference in global sport. “The balance is keeping the politicians on the bus but not letting them anywhere near the steering wheel,” Coe said late Friday at the European championships. The World Athletics president was responding to a question while speaking to journalists about avoiding political turmoil at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Other topics included track and field’s ban on Russian athletes, private equity in sports and FIFA’s credibility crisis following a controversial overturned red card at the World Cup. FIFA was criticised after United States President Donald Trump made a phone call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino urging that US forward Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension be overturned.

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