Topic: News: Sam Coffa may be dumped as AWF president

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Sam Coffa may be dumped as AWF president
By Ron Reed

The deeply troubled sport of weightlifting may be about to dump the official who has been running it for longer than most athletes can remember, Sam Coffa.

Olympic silver medallist Robert Kabbas will challenge Coffa for the presidency at the Australian Weightlifting Federation's annual meeting in Sydney on Saturday. Observers tip it to be a close contest.

Coffa, also the president of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and a vice-president of the International Weightlifting Federation, has held the job since 1983 despite the sport being racked by political problems and in conflict with the Sports Commission, which suspended funding because of inadequate financial reporting.

"Weightlifting in Australia finds itself at arguably the lowest point in its history in terms of numbers, standard and image," Kabbas said in an electioneering statement posted on the AWF's website.

Australia fielded only one male and one female lifter at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

"Even the one bright light of success at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games was marred by a number of problems, including selection controversies and the fact that Australia struggled to put together a team of eight men of sufficient standard," Kabbas said.

Australian lifters, including some who have been welcomed to the fold from European countries, have been regularly involved in drug issues in the past two decades.

In 2003 the Sports Commission investigated weightlifting's governance and was unimpressed by the findings.

Kabbas, who won his medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, is a former executive director of the AWF, but fell out with Coffa and left in 2003 after five years in the job.

He now helps run an independent weightlifting club.

He has been nominated for the presidency by four states. Victoria is supporting Coffa.

In a pointed jibe at his old boss, Kabbas said that he "is not in pursuit of personal achievement, nor do I see it as a stepping stone towards other national and international positions".

He said after "24 years of decline", a change of leadership and direction was necessary.

"It will be a long road back," Kabbas said.

State delegates are also being asked to approve changes to the constitution, limiting how long directors can remain in place.

Coffa has not posted a statement on the website, but it does carry a lengthy list of his achievements, including the Confederation of Australian Sport's assessment in 1999 that he was one of the 11 most influential people in Australian sport.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Secret vote ends Coffa's AWF reign
Jacquelin Magnay

After heading the Australian Weightlifting Federation for a quarter of a century, Sam Coffa has been deposed by a man he had released as chief executive.

Robert Kabbas, a 1984 Olympic Games silver medallist, broke Coffa's stranglehold on the AWF's presidency in the second round of secret voting at its annual meeting in Sydney on Saturday.

Coffa will retain his role as vice-president of the International Weightlifting Federation but may struggle for re-election when that body meets late next year.

Kabbas, AWF chief executive from 1997 to 2003, when he lost a power struggle with Coffa, had attracted the votes from the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia on a platform of reform and transparency.

Coffa's support stemmed from Victoria, NSW, the ACT and Western Australia, but one of those states changed its vote, leading to the biggest change in the sport for decades.

Coffa had been the president since 1983. But in that time he had attracted controversy, particularly concerning the importation of weightlifting stars from Eastern Europe and the sport's inability to control its drug controversies.

The AWF also elected its first female director, the NSW State Transit Authority lawyer Mary Macken, a keen masters lifter.

Officials from the Australian Sports Commission were present to ensure voting procedures were followed. The ASC has suspended its monthly funding of the sport because of financial and governance issues.

Kabbas told the meeting Australian weightlifting was perhaps at the lowest point of its history in terms of competitor numbers, standards of lifting and image of the sport.

"This deterioration has occurred over a number of years and a change in leadership and direction is needed to arrest this slide," he said.

Coffa campaigned on a collegiate approach to capitalise on future opportunities.

In a statement to members he said: "My extensive experience stands me in good stead to understand the critical issues confronting the AWF. My entire public life has involved making strategic choices and I am acutely aware of the necessity to remain independent and hold all sensitive matters confidential."