IOC presidential candidates pitch to Olympic voters in quirky closed-door event

Behind closed doors in Lausanne, seven candidates hoping to lead the International Olympic Committee made key pitches on Thursday to about 100 voters in perhaps the most elusive and opaque election in world sports.

The only set-piece campaign event before the March 20 poll in Greece let each candidate speak for 15 minutes only to IOC members who include royal family members and former heads of government plus sports officials and former athletes.

The speeches were not broadcast and the audience could not take phones or devices into the room. Nor could voters ask questions of their seven colleagues competing for perhaps the most influential job in sports, and one that increasingly has a role in real world politics.

It is a quirky process set by the IOC to decide its first contested presidential election since 2013, and to find a successor for Thomas Bach who has reached the limit of 12 years in office.

"If I was the president I think I'd be a little more flexible," said Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan during a 10-minute news conference each candidate was allowed at IOC headquarters. "The world has a right to know who is running and what they stand for."

The candidates also include two Olympic gold medallists, Sebastian Coe and Kirsty Coventry, and the son of a former IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr.

Four are presidents of Olympic sports bodies: Johan Eliasch from skiing, David Lappartient from cycling, and Morinari Watanabe from gymnastics. Coe also leads World Athletics, organized the 2012 London Olympics, and is widely viewed as the most qualified candidate.

Three are members of the Bach-chaired IOC executive board: Samaranch, Prince Feisal and Coventry, the sports minister of Zimbabwe who would be the first