MONTE CARLO: Paul Deighton, the man who made London 2012 ‘work’ for Sebastian Coe, has been appointed to head up the audit and finance committee by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Lord Coe, voted into the presidency last autumn, has included Lord Deighton – formerly ceo of London 2012 – among the 21 chairpersons of new commissions and advisory groups to confront the crisis in world athletics amid the uncovering of systematic corruption and doping cover-ups in Russia, and corruption scandals exposed within the world governing body itself.

Deighton, 60, is a former investment banker who followed his London 2012 task by serving as commercial secretary to the Treasury in the Coalition government from January 2013 to May 2015.

The membership of the new set of consultative bodies is composed of smaller, more represented groups with increased representation of women, younger age groups, coaches, former athletes and experts from outside athletics. The membership of each of the commissions and advisory groups will be announced in the coming days.

Other appointments include South African Harold Adams to head the medical and anti-doping commission, while French athletics federation president Bernard Amsalem heads the values commission. Former IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss is involved in the process as head of the masters’ commission.

Coe said: “The commission chairs draw upon the vast array of experience and expertise from across the globe, from within and outside the athletics family, and their combined knowledge will be an important resource to build a modern sport which is open to new ideas and is fast and responsive to the challenges which lie ahead.”

Chair list:

Rozle Prezelj (Slovenia) – Athletes’ Commission

Paul Deighton (UK) – Audit and Finance Commission

Victor Lopez (Puerto Rico) – Coaches’ Commission

Abby Hoffman (Canada) – Competition Commission

Hamad Kalkaba Malboum (Cameroon) – Development Commission

Prince Albert II (Monaco) – International Relations Commission

Maria Clarke (New Zealand) – Legal Commission

Pierre Weiss (France) – Masters’ Commission

Harold Adams (South Africa) – Medical and Anti-Doping Commission

Carlo Capalbo (Italy) – Road Running Commission

Bernard Amsalem (France) – Values Commission

Dahlan Al Hamad (Qatar) – Youth Engagement and Social Media Commission

Max Seigel (United States) – Commercial and Marketing Advisory Group

Hansjorg Wirz (Switzerland) – Competition Calendar Advisory Group

Stephanie Hightower (United States) – Conflict Resolution Advisory Group

Rajne Soderberg (Sweden) – One-Day Meetings Advisory Group

Marc Ventouillac (France) – Press and Media Operations Advisory Group

Adille Sumariwalla (India) – Strategic Communications Advisory Group

Sylvia Barlag (Netherlands) – Sustainable Development Advisory Group

Alex Gilady (Israel) – Television and Digital Advisory Group

Libor Varhanik (Czech Republic) – World Athletics Series Renovation Advisory Group

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