IOC move on election rules puts up legal hurdles to Coe running for top Olympic job

In a move by the IOC that apparently could block Sebastian Coe as an expected presidential candidate, the Olympic governing body has clarified its complex election rules before a deadline Sunday to enter the race.

A letter seen Wednesday by The Associated Press was sent by the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission to the 111 members, including Coe and several more likely candidates in the contest to succeed Thomas Bach next year.

Details in the two-page letter dated Monday specified reasons why the likes of Coe, the 67-year-old president of track governing body World Athletics, would seem unable to complete a full first IOC mandate of eight years.

The winning candidate must be a member of the IOC on election day, scheduled for March in Greece, "and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President," the letter stated.

Coe's IOC membership is conditional on being president of World Athletics, a role he must leave in 2027 on completing the maximum 12 years in office.

Another expected candidate, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who turns 65 in November, also could have legal issues with the standard age limit of 70 for members defined in the Olympic Charter rules book.

Members turning 70 can be extended only once for four more years, though such an approval for Coe by the IOC executive board also would still expire during a 2025-33 presidency.

The charter "makes no exceptions for the president, who is an IOC member under the same conditions as all the other members," stated ethics commission chairman Ban Ki Moon, the former United Nations secretary general, who signed the Sept. 9 letter.

Coe is widely considered a most qualified candidate to next lead the IOC. A two-time Olympic champion