Coe Refutes TV Influence On 2012
London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe has refuted suggestions that TV rights holders will determine the scheduling of athletics at the Olympics.
There had been suggestions that the times of races would be scheduled to suit US TV audiences – a rumour that Coe was quick to dismiss.
He said: ‘People say to me are we going to have a 100 metres at two o’clock in the morning? The answer is categorically no.
‘There is no pressure from any of the television companies, either domestic or host, to alter those schedules. That’s exactly the relationship we want, a schedule that works for the athletes, that’s my overwhelming and abiding consideration.’
Coe has spoken with US channel NBC’s sports head Dick Ebersol, who he said was happy to work around the scheduling organisers of London 2012 decided upon.
‘A five-hour time change he also recognises is relatively benign compared to some of the time zones he has been dealing with in the past – there is really genuinely no pressure.’
