IAAF president Lord Coe says his predecessors were too powerful

The power of the IAAF was in too few hands, Lord Coe told Sky Sports News HQ as the president insists he will fight to restore trust in athletics.

The sport's international governing body has been clouded in controversy with accusations that they suppressed information on doping use.

It was reported on Tuesday that leaked internal documents from the IAAF showed that before the 2012 Olympics it proposed keeping doping bans for less well-known Russian athletes under wraps. The IAAF deny the accusations.

Lamine Diack, who Coe replaced as IAAF president last August, is the subject of a police investigation over claims he took money to cover up positive tests by Russian athletes.

Coe told SSNHQ: "It's not a huge surprise that we've been concerned with Russia for some time and the escalating number of positives that the council commented on during my term time was a growing concern.

"The issue for us is a simple one. Were all the abnormal readings followed up? Yes. Were the sanctions handed down made public? Yes. Was there a cover-up? No."

The documents reportedly communicated within the IAAF stated that high-profile Russian athletes who had doped would be suspended as their disappearance from competition would create too much attention, but suggested sanctions for lower-profile athletes could be hidden from the public domain.

Regarding the IAAF's previous responses to the problems in Russia, Coe added: "There is a big difference between a cover-up and a failure to hold to account.

IAAF stands firm

Governing body defends its conduct over doping in Russia

"The changes I am making are designed to address those issues and to make sure the walls within the organisation, the powers and accountability of the new council are significantly more than the previous council."

Asked if the governing body had known enough about the conduct of Russia, Coe stated: "Clearly not. The walls were too high.

"If you look at the changes I'm making, they are specifically aimed at returning trust to the sport and trust to the organisation.

"I'm making the IAAF more accountable to the member federations and as a president, I want to be more accountable than my predecessors. Has there been too much power invested in too few people? Clearly yes."