Four time Olympic medal winner, current President of World Athletics, and a global leader in the world of sport, Lord Sebastian Coe CH KBE is to join the board of Europe’s largest lottery operators, SAZKA Entertainment AG. Lord Coe’s appointment as the board´s first Independent Non-Executive Director took effect as of September 14, 2021.
Sebastian Coe entered the global stage via athletics in the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980, winning a gold medal in the 1,500m and a silver in the 800m, a feat he repeated in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
After retiring from competitive sport with twelve world records to his name in 1990, he became a Conservative MP and private secretary to William Hague, the then leader of the UK government opposition. In 2004, he became Chairman of London’s bid to host the 2012 Games. When the bid successfully won against Paris, Moscow, New York, and Madrid, he went on to Chair the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee. He has served as President of World Athletics since 2015, steering the sport on a world stage through the impact of Covid-19, including at a successful Tokyo Olympics. He was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee in 2020.
SAZKA Entertainment is a subsidiary of KKCG, the global investment group founded by Czech entrepreneur Karel Komárek. As chairman of SAZKA Entertainment’s board, Mr Komárek commented: “Lord Coe has been a colossal figure on the world stage of sport, politics and business through his long and distinguished career. We’re honoured to have him join our team as its first Independent Non-Executive Director. He brings tremendous additional strength to our international perspective as we strive to maximise the raising of funds for good causes in all of the markets we serve.”
Lord Sebastian Coe also commented on his appointment. “Over the years I’ve seen the tremendous benefit lottery funds have brought to grassroots and elite sport across the globe. I’m looking forward to joining a team with a proven track record of supporting sport at all levels in the countries where it operates. My role will be to ensure that we develop our support of sport further and ensure that SAZKA Entertainment is a powerful driving force behind grassroots and elite sport funding across Europe and beyond.”
