‘Uniquely qualified’: John Coates drafted letter of praise for himself to Brisbane Olympics organisers

John Coates, the outgoing president of the Australian Olympic Committee, drafted his own letter of recommendation stating that it was “hard to think of anybody better qualified in the world of sport” to be appointed to the organising committee of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

Coates is Australia’s most celebrated official in the Olympic movement and a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee. He stood down on Saturday as president of the AOC after 32 years. He will become the AOC’s inaugural honorary life president after the 2024 Paris Olympics, when he stands down from the IOC. The life presidency role was written into the AOC’s constitution at last year’s AGM and Coates was formally awarded the position in March 2022.

An email sent by Coates on 1 April 2021, to Matt Carroll, the chief executive officer and vice president of the AOC, shows he drafted a gushing letter of recommendation that he be allowed to join the Brisbane Games’ organising committee when Coates becomes life president of the AOC. Coates asked that the letter be signed by Carroll and sent on to Peter Sheehan and Mark Cushing of BDO Consultancy, an accountancy firm involved in establishing Brisbane’s organising committee after it was awarded the Games. It is understood that the draft was reviewed and considered by Carroll before being sent.

According to Coates the honorary position of life president does not carry any voting rights on the AOC Executive “but it will carry influence, if they want it, within the organising committee”. Coates has been heavily involved in Australian-hosted Olympics as president of the AOC, vice president of the organising committee of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and deputy chairman of the candidate leadership group