Athletics has always – as a global sport, commercially and as topic in the medias – been the “crown jewel” of the Olympic Games. Legends like Paavo Nurmi, Emil Zatopek, Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Bob Beamon, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Carl Lewis, Sergie Bubka and Usain Bolt are not the only former Olympic gold medalists in athletics. They are also well-known world-class athletes for billions of people all over the globe. The special status of athletics among the Olympic sports is also striking in terms of the number of Olympic disciplines. There are no other sports that come close to athletics’ 48 medal sets to be awarded at the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris.
However, it is by no means the beauty and elegance of a crown jewel that characterizes the international leadership of athletics – “the International Association of Athletics Federations” (IAAF) – throughout the association’s more than 100-year history. It is quit clear from the excellent book: “Power and Politics in World Athletics. A Critical History” (Routledge, London & New York, 2021), which was published a few months ago. The book is written by assistant professor and Ph.D. Jörg Krieger from the Section of Sports, Department of Public Health at Aarhus University on the basis of extensive and in-depth research over the past 3 years. Minutes of meetings, annual reports, personal letters, press releases and official speeches from 16 national and international archives – e.g. IAAF and IOC official archives – play along with the author’s sharp pen as rarely seen.
Close connection between the IAAF’s institutional development and the personal views and attitudes of the Presidents
The book contains 13 chapters, which are chronologically closely linked with the only 6 IAAF presidents – Sigfrid Edström (Sweden, 1912-1946), David Burghley (Great Britain, 1946-1976), Adriaan Paulen (Netherlands, 1976-1981), Primo Nebiolo (Italy, 1981-1999), Lamine Diack (Senegal, 1999-2015) and Sebastian Coe (Great Britain, 2015-) – who have held the post since the founding of the IAAF in 1912. Krieger emphasizes that he quickly learned in the work on the book that was a close connection between the IAAF’s institutional development and the IAAF’s leadership personified through the incumbent presidents. And that it is not possible to separate the personal views, attitudes and actions of IAAF Presidents from the institutional history of the IAAF.
Critical research is more than just years and celebrations
The book’s research approach is both historical, comparative and critical. Krieger emphasizes as a historian that (also) the current structures, actions and behavior of sports organizations can advantageously be seen as reactions to or consequences of events that are far back in time. Likewise, Krieger manages to place the IAAF as an international sports organization in a cultural, political, economic, and sociological context in which concepts such as power, status, money, corruption, appointment, gender discrimination, and doping are recurring themes. The book is thus in no way a celebration script that pays homage to the IAAF’s “princes” and their “subjects” over time – quite the contrary.
Money, nepotism and corruption
It is difficult to highlight individual chapters of the book. But personally, I find the chapters on Primo Nebiolo’s transformation of the IAAF from “a dilapidated pizzaria to a five-star luxury hotel,” as expressed by his closest associates (pp. 160-209), particularly interesting. It is from the early 1980’s that a mutual “community of interest” emerges between international sports organizations such as the IAAF, global sponsors and multinational broadcasters such as NBC. A “community” where cash flows subsequently accelerate sharply and where nepotism, corruption and tax evasion are a “natural” part of the “brotherhood”. Primo Nebioli, a trained lawyer and a successful businessman, was elected to the IAAF’s top management in 1972. Nebioli quickly developed a close commercial relationship with the German Horst Dassler, whose father (Adolf Dassler) founded the sports brand “Adidas”. Horst Dassler was also a co-owner of ISL (International Sport & Leisure) – a Swiss marketing company with close connections to e.g. FIFA. For several years, Dassler worked purposefully to “replace” the reform-minded IAAF president Adriaan Paulen with Primo Nebiolo, which happened in 1981. The new “brotherhood” between the IAAF, ISL and Adidas resulted in the first world championships in athletics, held in Helsinki in 1983. The World Athletics Championships, which were broadcast “live” worldwide, were now to “supplement” the IAAF’s revenues from the IOC through more and larger sponsorship agreements and television contracts – and it succeeded fully. When Nebiolo took office as IAAF president, the annual turnover was 1 million dollars, while it was 100 million dollars two decades later.
The book also describes Primo Nebioli’s extremely close relationships with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch (1980-2001) and FIFA President Joan Havelange (1974-1998), both of whom entered into giant television contracts for joy and benefit, both for their organizations and … themselves. Likewise, Nebioli’s views on and actions in relation to the fight against doping – or lack of – are described on the basis of a number of national and international doping cases.
Can an English gentleman and former Olympic gold medalist change the course of World Athletic?
It is hardly coincidental that “the International Association of Athletics Federations” (IAAF) in 2019 changed its name to “World Athletics”, i.a. at the initiative of the new president Sebastian Coe – former Olympic gold medalist (1980 and 1984, Member of the British Parliament and CEO of the 2012 Olympic and 2012 Paralympics in London. It is a difficult task to change culture, structure and perception of democracy in an organization with more than 200 members from 5 continents – also for Sir Lord Sebastian Coe. Jörg Krieger is a “restrained optimist” in relation to Coe’s abilities and will as a “reformer.” In the book’s perspective chapter, Krieger emphasizes that World Athletics integrity, autonomy, doping, gender discrimination and real influence for athletes on boards, committees and working groups. It is not enough to have an 800 meters or 1,500 meters, which were the English gentleman’s favorite distances as a world-class athlete. The task is more like a marathon with both sharp turns, steep hills and strong headwinds. “Power and Politics in World Athletics. A Critical History ”deserves a large readership – both in Denmark and internationally – of athletes, coaches, journalists, leaders, politicians and everyone else who wants to“ learn from history ”. The book is a “crown jewel”. And then it is definitely not every day that such is provided by a (Danish) sports researcher.
