NRA: The powerful US gun rights lobby

Yahoo – AFP, Joshua MELVIN, May 27, 2022

People look at semi-automatic guns at the Kalashnikov booth at the NRA's
annual convention in Houston (AFP/STRINGER) (STRINGER)

The National Rifle Association is the central and fiercest promoter of gun rights in America, and is again holding its annual convention days after a mass school shooting. 

Just like the NRA's meeting after the 1999 Columbine attack, which defined an era of gun massacres in America's schools, the gathering opening Friday in Houston follows the killing of 19 children and two teachers in a Texas classroom. 

The NRA has been weakened by scandal and turmoil, but remains the main force dedicated to advocating for the owners of the tens of millions of weapons that are readily obtainable across the country. 

Here are some key points about the organization: 

Potent political force 

The 150-year-old NRA concentrated its focus on battling gun restrictions in the late 1970s and has become one of the most powerful lobbying groups in US history. 

Its past influence on lawmakers has been far-reaching. 

From 2000 to 2012, the NRA and its allies in the firearms industry combined to pour $80 million into US House of Representatives, Senate and presidential races, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. 

In the 2016 presidential election, the NRA spent about $20 million for ads attacking Democrat Hillary Clinton and another $10 million for ads supporting Republican Donald Trump. 

Since the 1990s, the NRA has been able to deliver a powerful punch against local and national politicians it views as a threat to gun rights, contributing to the defeat of numerous centrist candidates. 

Many guns, many deaths 

The NRA has been a key proponent for an industry that has produced more than 139 million guns for the commercial market over the two decades from 2000, including 11.3 million in 2020 alone, according to government data. 

At the same time, America annually records a toll of tens of thousands of gun deaths, with US authorities saying killings underwent an "historic" increase in 2020. 

The US racked up 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent over 2019, and 24,245 gun suicides, up 1.5 percent. 

The post-Columbine era 

In the April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine high school in Littleton, Colorado, two students killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher, and signaled a new era of classroom killings in America. 

The NRA's annual conference was scheduled to open less than two weeks later in Denver, a short drive from Littleton, prompting state and local politicians to criticize the planned meeting. 

In the end, the NRA went ahead with a scaled-down gathering but voiced a defiant tone defending gun rights. 

"Over the next two decades, this unapologetic message would come to define the NRA's tone in the wake of mass shootings at American schools," US broadcaster NPR wrote, after publishing recordings it said captured the group's debate over the response to Columbine. 

A troubled NRA 

The state of New York sued the group and its leader Wayne LaPierre in 2020 for financial fraud and misconduct, aiming to dissolve the powerful lobby. 

Top NRA officials were accused of using dues and donations of members for years as a "personal piggy bank," spending tens of millions of dollars on themselves and their cronies in violation of laws governing non-profit organizations. 

The group called it a baseless political attack, and in March a New York judge ruled that alleged self-dealing by the group's leader, if proven, would not warrant such a strong penalty as the disbanding of the association. 

New York's lawsuit seeking to boot LaPierre from his post will, however, be allowed to proceed. 

Group in decline? 

NRA claims more than five million members, but there are signs that figure is on the wane, including a 2021 legal deposition from LaPierre in which he said numbers were "under 4.9 million." 

US network CBS reported NRA's revenue declined 23 percent from roughly $367 million in 2016 to $282 million in 2020, the most recent year for which its tax filings are available. 

It added that contributions and grants from members and corporations also have slipped 15 percent during that time. 

Yet after an 18-year-old man opened fire this week at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the group spoke up as the voice explaining why yet another mass shooting had happened. 

"We recognize this was the act of a lone, deranged criminal," their statement said. "As we gather in Houston, we will reflect on these events... and pledge to redouble our commitment to making our schools secure."

Juul CEO steps down, Altria, Philip Morris end merger talks

Yahoo – AFP, Douglas Gillison, September 25, 2019

Top US e-cigarette manufacturer Juul is replacing its CEO and suspending all
lobying and advertising amid a backlash against its products (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Washington (AFP) - Crisis-stricken e-cigarette maker Juul announced a corporate shakeup on Wednesday, swapping out its CEO for a tobacco industry veteran as the US legal environment rapidly darkened for the company's main products.

The company is also suspending all advertising and government lobbying as it responds to a mounting public backlash over the risks of vaping.

At the same time, a potential $200 billion merger between Altria, a major Juul stakeholder, and Philip Morris International collapsed, with the two companies saying Wednesday that efforts to reach a deal had failed.

The transition to e-cigarettes and other devices offered a ray of hope to old-guard tobacco merchants facing a long sales decline and falling smoking rates.

But, with at least nine dead and hundreds sickened from causes potentially tied to some vaping products, and soaring use among teenagers, the regulatory landscape for e-cigarettes has deteriorated this year.

State and federal authorities have brought litigation and reportedly at least one criminal investigation. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's administration is considering an outright ban on flavored vaping products, which authorities say target teen users.

PM increasingly uneasy

Kevin Burns, co-founder of the San Francisco-based Juul, which had seen a meteoric rise in recent years, will be replaced by KC Crosthwaite, himself a top Altria executive.

In a statement, Crosthwaite said he envisioned a future in line with Juul's founding mission to allow adult smokers to choose alternatives to smoking tobacco.

"Unfortunately, today that future is at risk due to unacceptable levels of youth usage and eroding public confidence in our industry," he said.

Under Burns, Juul expanded to 20 countries, forging a global business out of a start-up, the company said.

Juul says it has stopped store sales of products with flavors other than tobacco and menthol, ended promotions on Facebook and Instagram and enhanced online age verification while pushing for stronger rules to keep its products out of children's hands.

A month ago, Altria and Philip Morris International announced merger talks, potentially allowing the two companies to diversify into the shifting consumer market.

But on Wednesday the two companies said efforts to reach an agreement to forge a $200 billion combined entity had failed.

"While we believed the creation of a new merged company had the potential to create incremental revenue and cost synergies, we could not reach agreement," Altria Chairman Howard Willard said in a statement.

As clouds gathered on the horizon for Juul, the Philip Morris board became increasingly uneasy about the merger with Altria, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter.

Altria purchased a $12.8 billion stake in Juul last year.

Meanwhile, Philip Morris International said it would focus on the roll-out of its IQOS device, which heats and does not burn tobacco.

IQOS has been received "premarket authorization" from the US Food and Drug Administration following a "rigorous science-based review" by the agency, according to Philip Morris.

"IQOS is not an e-vapor product," Philip Morris said.

On Wall Street, shares in Altria were little changed but Philip Morris had surged nearly 5.9 percent around 1400 GMT.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“…  The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. ...”

Powerful but troubled US gun group sees shakeup amid public dispute

Yahoo – AFP, April 27, 2019

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the powerful National Rifle Association in the US, is
seen speaking at the group's convention on April 26, 2019; he appears to
have forced out NRA President Oliver North in an angry public dispute (AFP
Photo/SCOTT OLSON)

Washington (AFP) - A dramatic leadership struggle in the most powerful US gun-owners organization has resulted in its president Oliver North saying Saturday that he will not serve a second term.

North, who gained international notoriety as a key figure in the Iran-Contra arms scandal under President Ronald Reagan, was forced out as president of the influential National Rifle Association by the group's longtime CEO, Wayne LaPierre.

An NRA board member, Richard Childress, read a letter from North at the group's annual convention in which North said his efforts to fight alleged financial mismanagement in the NRA had led to his ouster.

North, who became president only last year, alleged in a letter to the NRA's executive committee that LaPierre had purchased more than $200,000 in personal items and charged them to a vendor, The Washington Post reported.

North called for the NRA to establish a committee to review the group's finances.

LaPierre put a different light on the men's differences, accusing North of issuing a blunt ultimatum to either "resign or there will be destructive allegations made against me and the NRA," LaPierre said in a letter published Friday by the Wall Street Journal.

LaPierre said the threat "alarmed and disgusted" him.

Amid the bitter internal spat, the NRA meanwhile has filed a lawsuit against its advertising agency Ackerman McQueen, complaining of unjustified billings. Ackerman employs North to host a TV show called "American Heroes."

The firm called the suit "frivolous (and) inaccurate."

Supported by Trump

The leadership struggle has played out in public view at a time when the NRA -- which has long played an outsized role in the gun debate in America -- has faced mounting political, regulatory and financial challenges.

After recent years saw some of the worst mass shootings in US history, leading to new cries for gun control, the pro-gun group's revenues dropped sharply last year.

Regulators in New York, meantime, have threatened to examine the group's tax-exempt status.

But President Donald Trump has thrown his strong support to the group. In 2017 he became the first US president since Reagan to address the NRA, and he did so again on Friday at its Indianapolis convention.

North has long been a popular figure among American conservatives, despite -- or perhaps because of -- his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal.

A retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who went to work in the Reagan White House, he was convicted in 1989 on three charges linked to the Iran-Contra scheme, under which money from arms sales to Tehran was funneled to rebels in Nicaragua. The convictions were later overturned.

LaPierre himself had warm words for North when he was tapped as the group's next president last year.

"Oliver North is a legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader," LaPierre said in a statement.

"In these times, I can think of no one better suited to serve as our president."

'Never Again': student-led US gun protests draw huge crowds

Yahoo – AFP, Chris Lefkow and Sebastien Blanc, March 24, 2018

People arrive for the March For Our Lives rally against gun violence in
Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm)

Washington (AFP) - Demanding action on gun control from lawmakers, more than one million Americans turned out for emotional nationwide protests on Saturday fueled by teenagers at a Florida high school where 17 people were shot dead last month.

"Politicians, either represent the people or get out," Cameron Kasky, a 17-year-old from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, told the crowd at a huge rally in Washington.

"Stand for us or beware -- the voters are coming," said Kasky, one of the leaders of a dynamic and passionate student movement which has emerged following the February 14 shooting at his school.

Large crowds also turned out for demonstrations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Seattle and other cities -- more than 800 in all according to the organizers of the "March For Our Lives."

Mayor Bill de Blasio said 175,000 people took part at the New York rally, tweeting: "These students WILL change America".

But the largest protest was in Washington, where organizers told NBC News the crowd was estimated at more than 800,000 people, the largest gun control rally in the United States since the Million Mom March in 2000.

Protestors on Pennsylvania Avenue during the "March For Our Lives" rally

for gun control in Washington (AFP Photo/Alex Edelman)

The main stage for the event in Washington was set up near the US Capitol and lawmakers were the target audience as speakers delivered blistering warnings that the time has come for stricter gun laws.

"The people demand a law banning the sale of assault weapons," Kasky said. "The people demand we prohibit the sale of high-capacity magazines. The people demand universal background checks."

"We are going to take this to every election, to every state, and every city," said another Stoneman Douglas student leader, David Hogg.

March organizers included a link for people to register to vote on their MarchForOurLives.com website as they seek to transform their nascent movement into a potent political force.

Republicans, NRA criticized

Signs carried by protestors lambasted lawmakers who oppose tougher laws and the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful US gun lobby.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students at the "March for Our Lives"
rally for gun control in Washington (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

"These kids are right," said Jeff Turchin, a 68-year-old retired garment manufacturer who came to Washington from New York to attend the rally.

"They're basically saying the NRA is paying off these Republicans," Turchin said of the party of President Donald Trump, which controls the Senate and House of Representatives.

The Washington rally kicked off with Andra Day singing "Rise Up" and also featured a performances by Jennifer Hudson, whose mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew were shot dead in 2008.

Holding a poster reading "Never Again," the slogan for the march, Miley Cyrus performed the song "The Climb."

But the most riveting appearances were by the Stoneman Douglas students.

Emma Gonzalez, 17, took the stage wearing a green military-style jacket and ripped jeans and delivered a eulogy for the 14 students and three adults slain by 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz.

Protesters display posters at the "March For Our Lives" gun control rally 

in Washington (AFP Photo/Eva HAMBACH)

Tears rolling down her face, she then stood in silence at the podium for a full four and half minutes as the crowd fidgeted and some cried out "We're with you Emma."

"Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds," Gonzalez finally said -- the exact amount of time Cruz spent spraying bullets inside her school before fleeing.

"Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job," Gonzalez said. "Get out there and vote."

Yolanda Renee King, the nine-year-old granddaughter of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. brought many to tears with a surprise appearance.

"My grandfather had a dream that his four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," she told a rapt crowd.

"I have a dream that enough is enough," she said, referencing her grandfather's famous 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech on ending racism.

"And that this should be a gun-free world -- period.".

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez on stage

 at the "March For Our Lives" rally for gun control in Washington (AFP Photo/

Nicholas Kamm)

Another speaker led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Nicholas Dworet, who was shot dead at Stoneman Douglas.

Dworet, a senior who had been planning to go to the University of Indianapolis in the fall, would have turned 18 on Saturday.

'Protect Kids, Not Guns'

In New York, former Beatle Paul McCartney showed up at a march and spoke of the December 1980 murder of his bandmate John Lennon.

"Every week you hear about a new shooting and nothing is done about it," McCartney told AFP. "But I think maybe after this something will be done about it."

Thousands gathered in Parkland to pay tribute to those slain in the city on Valentine's Day.

"I March Because I Was Almost Silenced," read a sign carried by Samantha Mayor, 17, who was shot in the knee and wears a heavy brace.

Samantha's mother, Ellyn, held a sign reading "I'm Marching So No Other Parent Has to Hear 'Mom, I've Been Shot.'"

Martin Luther King Jr's granddaughter Yolanda Renee King addresses the crowd

at the "March For Our Lives" rally in Washington (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm)

Trump was in Florida as marchers gathered in Washington but the White House issued a statement.

"We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today," it said. "Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the President's."

'Never again!': US students stage walkout against gun violence

Yahoo – AFP, March 14, 2018

Thousands of students sat for 17 minutes outside the White House in honor of the
victims of last month's high school shooting in Florida (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Washington (AFP) - Students across the United States walked out of classes on Wednesday in a nationwide call for action against gun violence following the shooting deaths last month at a Florida high school.

Hundreds of students from Washington area schools gathered outside the White House chanting "Never again!" and "Enough is enough!" and holding signs reading "Protect People Not Guns."

At 10:00 am (1400 GMT), students in numerous cities held a moment of silence to honor the 14 students and three adult staff killed on Valentine's Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The "National School Walkout" was intended to last for 17 minutes, one for each victim.

But it quickly became apparent that many students at schools on the East Coast decided not to go to classes at all and to demonstrate instead.

The nationwide protest is being held one month to the day after Nikolas Cruz, a troubled 19-year-old former student at Stoneman Douglas, unleashed a hail of gunfire on his former classmates.

The event to honor those slain at Stoneman Douglas is also an act of protest against the firearms violence plaguing the United States, which has more than 30,000 gun-related deaths annually.

Organizers come from the same group behind the Women's March, which saw millions of demonstrators take to the streets in cities across the country in January 2017 to protest Donald Trump's White House inauguration.

Trump had momentarily signaled support for increasing restrictions on guns, but now stands accused of bowing to the powerful US gun lobby.

'Never again!': US students stage walkout against gun violence https://t.co/9fl1hZNqog pic.twitter.com/QPq7iMWU9k

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 14, 2018

Delta, United abandon US gun lobby after Florida shooting

Yahoo – AFP, February 24, 2018

Delta has joined a host of companies that are cutting ties with the National
Rifle Association, the powerful US gun lobby (AFP Photo/Andrew Burton)

Washington (AFP) - US airlines Delta and United on Saturday joined the ever-expanding list of companies cutting ties with the National Rifle Association, the country's powerful gun lobby, in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Florida.

The "#BoycottNRA" hashtag has gained traction on Twitter since the Valentine Day's rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida left 14 students and three staff dead.

"Delta is reaching out to the NRA to let them know we will be ending their contract for discounted rates through our group travel program," Delta said in a statement.

"We will be requesting that the NRA remove our information from their website."

United chimed in with a similar message, also discontinuing discounted rates for NRA members attending the group's annual meeting.

The two airlines join several other companies in retracting benefits for the NRA and its members, including rental car companies Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise and Hertz, First National Bank of Omaha and insurance providers Chubb and MetLife.

"Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA," First National Bank of Omaha said.

Allied Van Lines and North American Van Lines, along with security company Symantec, have also severed ties.

Allied Van Lines said it "no longer has an affiliate relationship with the NRA effective immediately."

None of the companies explicitly linked their statements to the mass shooting in Florida, but their decisions come as activists are pushing for stronger gun controls in the United States.

Bank of America said it would immediately "engage the limited number of clients we have that manufacture assault weapons for nonmilitary use to understand what they can contribute" to helping end mass shootings.

A 19-year-old former student at the Parkland school, Nikolas Cruz, used an assault-style rifle to carry out the February 14 shooting.

The incident has once again shone the spotlight on the NRA, which staunchly opposes any limits to the right to bear arms enshrined in the US Constitution.

On Thursday, National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre slammed what he called "the shameful politicization of tragedy," and called for Americans to be the first line of defense -- meaning arming teachers.

That idea has been embraced by President Donald Trump, who again pushed his controversial plan to arm "firearms adept" teachers with "annual training" to help protect the nation's schools.

"Shootings will not happen again - a big & very inexpensive deterrent. Up to States," Trump tweeted.

US anti-Islam campaigner donated €150,000 to the PVV in three years

DutchNews, December 28, 2016

Wilders campaigning in 2012. 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

An American foundation run by fervent anti-Islam campaigner David Horowitz has donated at least €150,000 to Geert Wilders’ PVV party in three years, the NRC said on Wednesday. 

The David Horowitz Freedom Center donated €108,244.24 to the PVV in 2015, according to PVV party records which have to be handed over to the home affairs ministry every year. 

That was the biggest single donation by a private individual to a Dutch political party, the NRC said. In 2014, Horowitz donated €18,000 to the PVV, the official records show. 

However, the origin, total amount and what the money was spent on remains unclear, the NRC said. 

The foundation itself says its donated $75,000 in 2014 and the same amount last year. Taking the exchange rate into account, the total in 2014 and 2015 was around €126,000. 

Differences 

Horowitz cannot explain why the PVV has declared different amounts of money to his foundation’s records. The PVV’s accountant, the PVV and Wilders himself have refused to comment, the paper said. 

This year, the donation was smaller – $25,000, the NRC said. 

Political parties have been required to register all donations of over €1,000 since 2013. Donations of over €4,500 have to be made public. 

Other funding

The NRC says Wilders does not appear to have any other foreign funding. Daniel Pipes, director of the neo-conservative think tank Middle East Forum has donated to Wilders in the past but told the NRC last year he was withdrawing his backing following Wilders’ ‘fewer Moroccans’ chant and court case. 

The PVV does not quality for official funding for political parties in the Netherlands because it has no membership structure. Wilders is the only official PVV member.

Shell and Exxon secured ‘secret deal’ on Groningen gas production

DutchNews, May 13, 2016

Cracks in the wall of a property damaged by earthquakes. Photo: Graham Dockery

Oil companies Shell and Exxon held secret talks with the economic affairs ministry in 2005 to set levels of production in the Groningen gas field up to and beyond 2020, according to documents obtained by NOS.

The documents show that the two companies exerted pressure on the ministry not to scale back gas extraction despite increasing concern over the increased frequency of earthquakes in the region. 

The Dutch parliament was informed of the talks, which took place in 2005, but only knew of an agreement to set production levels for the next 10 years. The documents obtained under freedom of information legislation show that the deal also covered the years up to 2020, when the gas field is expected to go into decline, and afterwards.

In 2010 a civil servant wrote in a memo that parliament had ‘not been informed about long-term production’ and that the agreement between the oil companies and the ministry ‘limits the policy capacity of the minister’ to set production levels.

In December last year the government reduced the amount of gas to be extracted in Groningen this year to 27 billion cubic metres, following a Council of State ruling. In 2105 33 billion cubic metres was extracted. 

Limit

The 2005 deal allowed a maximum production level of 425 billion cubic metres over the 10 years from 2006 to 2015, higher than the government’s preferred limit of 375 billion cubic metres.

Tens of thousands of homes in Groningen province have had to be shored up because of damage caused by earthquakes that have been linked to gas extraction, and some houses are unsellable. House prices have fallen by as much as 12% in areas worst hit by earth tremors. 

NOS requested the documents as part of an investigation into gas production in 2013, when it reached its highest level for 30 years despite a warning by the regulator (Staatstoezicht op de Mijnen) that extraction needed to be scaled back urgently. 

Parliament

MPs from all parties have called on economic affairs minister Henk Kamp to clarify the allegations. 

Kamp said in an initial reaction he is unaware of any secret agreements and that he would investigate if required to do so.

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IAAF president Coe steps down from Nike role

Yahoo – AFP, Luke Phillips, 26 Nov 2015

A photo taken on August 30, 2015 shows IAAF president Sebastian Coe at the 2015
 IAAF World Championships at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium in Beijing (AFP Photo/
Greg Baker)

Monaco (AFP) - IAAF president Sebastian Coe bowed to intense pressure and announced Thursday that he had stepped down from his paid role as an ambassador for Nike to focus more on cleaning up world track and field's beleaguered governing body.

"It is clear that perception and reality have become horribly mangled," said Coe after an IAAF Council meeting.

"I've stepped down from my ambassadorial role with Nike, which dates back 38 years.

"The current noise level around this ambassadorial role is not good for the IAAF and it is not good for Nike, and frankly it is a distraction to the 18-hour days I and our teams are working to steady the ship."

Coe also announced he would step down from his role as chairman of the British Olympic Committee after the Rio Olympics and said a multinational sports marketing company he heads up, CSM, would "not tender for nor directly work for the IAAF or any city in relation to their tender to the IAAF while I am president of the IAAF".

Coe, unpaid as head of track and field's world governing body, received around £100,000 (142,000 euros) a year for his global ambassadorial role for Oregon-based Nike.

The Briton, a two-time Olympic gold 1500m medallist, is accused of lobbying disgraced predecessor Lamine Diack to hand Eugene the 2021 world championships.

Bjorn Eriksson, who led a rival bid by Gothenburg for the 2021 championships, said Coe telephoned him on Wednesday to say it had been wrong to give the event to Eugene without a formal bidding process, The Times reported.

Coe insisted, however, that he had not been responsible for the decision that was made in April.

"I don't believe it was a conflict of interest," Coe stressed.

The decision to step down from Nike "was purely on the need to focus on challenges ahead with my colleagues and particularly the executive teams here at (IAAF) headquarters", he said.

"The issues that I've been dealing with in the last few weeks, the reform of the organisation, the challenges faced by the organisation across two or three fronts, needs an unflinching focus and the 'noises off' are frankly a distraction and I can see that.

"The decision I chose to take in the last few weeks was one that I think reflected my absolute intention to focus as long and as hard as I can on steadying the ship that has been rocking rather badly recently."

Coe added, however, that he had sought advice from the IAAF Ethics Commission, who said the Briton could have continued in his Nike role as long as he "continually and consistently declared all my interests" and did not participate in any decisions involving the company when it came to working with the IAAF.

Eriksson also said Coe had indicated that the Eugene award was being investigated by French police as part of a corruption inquiry into the IAAF leadership of Diack, who stood down in August.

Diack is also under investigation over allegations that he took bribes from Russian officials to cover up positive drug tests by athletes.

"If I understand Sebastian Coe correctly, he said, 'I agree that the procedure wasn't correct', but he claims he wasn't involved in this, others are," Eriksson said.

Coe had been a strong supporter of Eugene's bid for the 2021 championships and was part of the IAAF council that voted this year to abandon the normal bidding process.

Nike, which was founded in Eugene, was also a powerful backer of the bid.

And the BBC said Tuesday it had seen an email in which a Nike executive said Coe had assured him he would "reach out" to Diack on behalf of Eugene.

Coe insisted that action would be taken should there be anything shown to be out of order with bids not only for Eugene but also the world championships in Doha in 2017.

"In our own internal reviews, the criminal investigations that are currently ongoing... or any of the recommendations or conclusions from the independent commission report to WADA, if any of those show or conclude impropriety, then action will be taken," Coe warned.

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