FIFA World Cup and Olympics cited as Coe warns of politicians near sport

Published On 15 Aug 202615 Aug 2026Sebastian Coe has a simple approach to avoiding political interference in global sport.“The balance is keeping the politicians on the bus but not letting them anywhere near the steering wheel,” Coe said late Friday at the European championships.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Prichard Colon dies from boxing injury that resulted in 221-day comalist 2 of 4British cyclist Finlay Tarling dies in Tour of Portugal crash aged 19list 3 of 4Liverpool to sell minority stake to consortium including Jeff Bezoslist 4 of 4Arteta assures Arsenal fans over contract before Man City clashend of listThe World Athletics president was responding to a question while speaking to journalists about avoiding political turmoil at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Other topics included track and field’s ban on Russian athletes, private equity in sports and FIFA’s credibility crisis following a controversial overturned red card at the World Cup.FIFA was criticised after United States President Donald Trump made a phone call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino urging that US forward Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension be overturned. World football’s governing body ...