Fuming Olympics president Kirsty Coventry threatens her £420,000-a-year PR chief with the sack mid-press conference after being blindsided with questions about Germany’s fears over hosting Games on Nazi anniversary
IOC President Kirsty Coventry found herself involved in a bizarre press conference in which she heatedly responded to being blindsided by questions on recent developments that she should have been aware of by publicly pinning the blame on her media team.
Instead of revelling in the clear success of her first Winter Games, Coventry reacted poorly to queries on FIFA President and IOC Member, Gianni Infantino, joining Donald Trump‘s peace board; the potential for an Olympic Games in Germany in 2036 – exactly 100 years after the Nazi Olympics and developments on Russian systemic doping issues at Sochi Winter Olympics.
On each occasion Coventry said her team had not made her aware of the developments in question and in her frustration remarked that someone needed to be dismissed.
Interestingly, long-term IOC comms chief Mark Adams has been recently linked with a switch to working for his friend Sir Keir Starmer after the Prime Minister’s director of communications Tim Allan stood down.
However, with a generous salary north of £420,000 Adams may not be too keen on switching bosses, despite Coventry’s outburst which, if anything, should have taken place behind closed doors.
Coventry, who became the first woman and African to be elected as IOC President last year, was speaking in a press-conference on Friday, the same day that Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had said that it would be inappropriate for the country to host the 2036 Olympics as they will be exactly 100 years after the Games were hosted by Nazi Germany.
IOC President Coventry threatened to dismiss members of her team after repeatedly being blindsided by questions from reporters in a press conference she said she ‘was not aware of’
Coventry was also asked whether she would investigate IOC member Infantino for wearing a red ‘USA’ cap
When asked about the opinions of the IOC over this, Coventry said: ‘Frankly, and I’m looking at my team because I was not aware that Germany had made any comments in and around 2036. So I don’t really have an opinion on on it.’
Soon after that, another reporter asked Coventry about ‘a known whistleblower who had informed WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) that the current chair of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency was directly involved with widespread doping surrounding the Sochi Games’ and that they ‘had information that the IOC was aware of this’.
To this Coventry replied: ‘OK, I really looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I’m not aware of that either. So, but I would be very interested to find out more about it,’ she said.
Another question added to her frustration when she was asked whether she would investigate IOC member and FIFA president Infantino over his involvement in what was described as a ‘clearly political event,’ after he held up a contract he had signed with the Board of Peace while wearing a red ‘USA’ cap.
Coventry replied: ‘Well, again, I was not aware of it. So now that you guys have made us aware of it, we’ll go back and then of course, we’ll have a look into it.
‘The Olympic Charter is very clear on what it expects of its members.’
An IOC spokesperson has since said that Infantino’s presence at the inaugural meeting of The Board of Peace this week alongside United States President Donald Trump and other heads of state does not violate any Olympic Charter rules on political neutrality.
