Allegations and Protestations: IAAF Drama Echoes FIFA Corruption Woes

Lord Coe, the double Olympic gold medalist, described the appointment as the biggest achievement of his career, and vowed to establish an independent doping commission to address perceived "conflicts and loopholes" about drug use in the sport.

Coe, who was elected president after beating Ukrainian former pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka in a vote, noted that athletics had been very proactive in its approach to tackling doping, but said more could be done to ensure drug use was stamped out of the sport.

"We do have to recognize there is too broad a view that this something where, whether real or perceived, there are conflicts and loopholes."

"An independent system is what we need to close down any thought that we are doing anything other than being entirely vigilant about that."

Athletics has been plunged into controversy recently, with suggestions that authorities turned a blind eye to doping, after last week it was revealed that 28 track and field athletes were suspended by the IAAF for positive samples during the 2005 and 2007 world championships.

The suspensions also come amid reports in British and German media that up to a third of endurance distance medal winners over the past decade has suspicious blood values.

Sporting Change?

Despite expressing anger at the manner of the recent doping allegations and suggestions, authorities were involved in covering up drug cheats, and Coe has indicated that changes need to be made to athletics and its governance to uphold the sport's integrity.

The push for change has drawn similarities to efforts being made to reform the nature of football's world governing body, FIFA.

FIFA was plunged into chaos in May, when a number of officials were arrested and charged with corruption offences, which included taking bribes, embezzlement and vote-rigging.

The arrests came after years of corruption allegations against FIFA's hierarchy, with new attempts being made to make the organization more transparent and accountable, echoing efforts undertaken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and cycling authorities in decades past.

Drama Just On Time

While there are similarities between the IAAF's and FIFA's push for greater transparency, there has also been a similarity in the timing of the damaging allegations, which occurred just before the presidential elections for the respective organizations.

The FIFA arrests, and subsequent media storm surrounding the investigation, occurred a couple of days before the organization's Congress and its members were to vote on who would be FIFA president for the next four years.

Some commentators have claimed that the timing of the arrests, although warranted, was politically driven and strategically designed to grab as many headlines as possible.

Many of the corruption allegations were levelled at the highly divisive incumbent FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who subsequently won re-election to football's top spot, before announcing shortly after that he would step down by the end of the year amid widespread criticism.

And while there have been no suggestions that political motivations are behind the appointment of Lord Coe as president of the IAAF, the recent doping claims have shown how a big scandal can certainly get people interested in an election.