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Lord Coe Quits £100k Nike Ambassador Role

Lord Coe has stepped down from his role with Nike amid suggestions of a conflict of interest with his position as head of world athletics.

The IAAF president was being paid £100,000 a year by Nike for his global ambassadorial role, which he had held for 38 years.

He described the ongoing speculation about his position as a "distraction" which was unhelpful for both Nike and the IAAF.

"It is clear that perception and reality have become horribly mangled," Lord Coe added.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist told reporters that the IAAF Ethic Committee had no objection to him continuing his Nike role - on the condition he "clearly and consistently declared all interests".

Despite this, Lord Coe said he would step down as ambassador for the Oregon-based sportswear company to focus on cleaning up athletics and its governing body - after the sport was hit by doping and corruption scandals.

The Briton has been accused of lobbying his predecessor as IAAF president, Lamine Diack, to award hosting rights for the 2021 World Championships to Eugene, a city in Oregon which has close ties to Nike.

Earlier this year, Eugene was given the hosting rights without a bidding process - even though the Swedish city of Gothenburg was intending to enter the race.

Along with his departure from Nike, Lord Coe announced he plans to step down as chairman of the British Olympics Association once the Rio Games have concluded next summer.

The 59-year-old, who was the architect of the London 2012 Games, was only elected to the top job in world athletics in August.