The 1980 and 1984 Olympic 1500 metres champion has been approached by several countries who want him to replace Lamine Diack, the president since 1999 but whose management style has recently come under severe criticism.

 

It is understood that a number of countries, including several from Asia and at least one from Europe, have spoken to Coe to ask him whether he would be prepared to put his name forward and stand against Diack at the next election, which is scheduled to be held in Osaka in August 2007.

 

Election to the presidency of the IAAF carries with it the valued prize of a position as an IOC member. The former Conservative MP is highly regarded by several senior figures within the IOC, most notably the former president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who more than 10 years ago had urged him to follow a career in sports politics rather than in the House of Commons. Coe lost his seat at Falmouth & Camborne in the 1997 election.

 

Coe was elected as a member of the IAAF’s ruling council in 2003 but it was his leadership of London’s successful bid to stage the 2012 Olympics that really boosted his standing among the world’s sport politicians.

 

He is now seen by many as the ideal candidate to lead athletics into the 21st century. At the moment the only candidate who has publicly declared he is likely to stand against Diack is Minos Kyriakou, a Greek billionaire who is also a member of the IAAF council. His campaign is being orchestrated by Andy Norman, the former promotions manager of the British Athletic Federation who was sacked in 1994 after being implicated in the suicide of Sunday Times journalist Cliff Temple.

 

Coe, however, would make a much more attractive candidate to the vast majority of the 211 countries who are affiliated to the IAAF. “He is one of history’s greatest ever athletes known to everyone and who impressed everyone with the way in which he led London’s Olympic bid,” said one member of the IAAF council. “He is just the kind of man who should be leading athletics, which is the Olympics major sport.”

 

But the pressures of trying to manage London’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics and revitalising a sport that is rivalled only by football for the number of people who take part in it could mean Coe resists the pressures to stand. An added complication is that the IAAF is based in Monte Carlo following a move from London 15 years ago.

 

“My sole intention at the moment is London 2012,” said Coe. “I’m so determined to get this programme off the ground that I don’t have time for anything else. So I probably won’t stand.”

 

But a final decision does not need to be taken until next May so there is plenty of time for Coe to be persuaded to change his mind.