John Coates: One of Australia’s top sports bosses launches a blistering attack on TV newsreader Sandra Sully
Veteran Australian sports administrator John Coates has raised eyebrows after launching a blistering public attack on TV newsreader Sandra Sully.
Coates, 74, asked, ‘What would she [Sully] know about sport?’ as he recalled the time the glamorous presenter contacted him about seeking a top position with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
‘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,’ Coates said.
‘I said to her, “I’m honorary life president [of the AOC] I’m not involved in any of this, it would be wrong”.’
Sully was astonished when she was informed of Coates’s explosive comments.
‘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 told News Corp.
In a recent interview reflecting on his decorated career, Coates asked ‘what would she (Sully) know about sport’ (he is pictured, with former Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk)
Sully was astonished by the attack, stating her view that it’s ‘very disappointing John Coates wants to make this personal’
Sully, who began her TV career in Brisbane in the 1990s, approached the sporting boss about seeking a position on the board of the Australian Olympic Committee
‘At that stage, I mentioned that I was considering a nomination, but had not yet made up my mind.
‘I have more than a decade of experience in the national sporting landscape having served on the Hockey Australia board as both a director and vice-president during two and a half Olympic cycles.’
Sully added she has ‘always supported the Australian Olympic movement’ and commended Coates and the board for the impressive legacy they leave – but is adamant ‘member organisations need more focused representation ahead of Brisbane 2032’.
The war of words came as Coates looked back at his impressive career, which dates back to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal – and also reflected on beating cancer on multiple occasions.
Coates is best known for his tenure as President of the AOC from 1990 through to 2022 and he was a key figure behind the successful Olympic bids in Sydney (2000) and the upcoming Games in Brisbane come 2032.
In doing so, Coates is the only National Olympic Committee president in history who has won hosting rights to two summer Games for his nation.
A father of six, Coates has fought off bowel, lung and thyroid cancer the past seven years, and delayed a bout of chemotherapy to attend last year’s Paris Olympics.
He boldly declared Australia could win up to 60 medals last year in France – and he wasn’t far off the mark, with our athletes snaring 53, including 18 gold.
Leading into the Brisbane Games, Coates’ influence remains large.
He is vice-president of the organising committee, and in previous months suggested using existing infrastructure at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, which was the site of the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
While Queensland Premier David Crisafulli ultimately announced a $7.5 billion infrastructure grand plan – with a new 65,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park as the centrepiece – he will still have Coates’ backing.
Coates will be 82 when the Games are staged in Brisbane and it would take a brave person to suggest he won’t be involved behind the scenes.
To what degree remains to be seen – but working in the shadows is exactly how Coates likes to operate.
