World Athletics trying to ‘remain politically neutral’ during conflicts, says Sebastian Coe

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe says that his organization is trying to “remain politically neutral” where possible when handling the impact of global conflicts and geopolitics on the sport.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe says that his organization is trying to “remain politically neutral” where possible when handling the impact of global conflicts and geopolitics on the sport. Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been excluded from events staged by World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, since March 2022, and calls have been growing for similar sporting sanctions to be placed on Israeli athletes amid the war on Hamas in Gaza. However, Coe said that he sees Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “very different situation” to the Israel-Gaza conflict, explaining that “you do have to deal with what is in front of you.” Speaking to CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies ahead of the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Coe said: “We’re not the United Nations. We’re not a political body. We’re an international federation for sport. “My responsibility is to make sure our sport remains global, that where we possibly can – it is not always possible, but where we possibly can – we remain politically neutral. “But then we do take stands – we’ve taken a stand over Russia and Belarus … We recognize that whenever you make a judgment politically, you are setting a precedent, but I do think you have to deal with those issues as they arise.”