Of whether the World Championships could be moved to August or July to accommodate a London bid outside of the football season, Coe said: “I can’t speculate. That would be a [World Athletics] council judgment. We have a pretty clear, stated position that we want our world championships to finish as the conclusion of a season.
“Why did we do that? For a lot of our fans it was confusing. They didn’t quite know why somebody would come out of a world championships or an Olympic Games and then go: ‘OK, I know they won whatever it is, in the world championships, and then four days later they’re in the Diamond League final.’
“And particularly when you have a very cluttered sporting calendar across winter and summer sports, we just felt we needed to do everything just to make our sport a little more understandable.”
Final submissions from bidding cities are required by early August, with a decision then made in September. The London bid has the support of the Government and London Mayor’s office. Talks are ongoing and a West Ham statement earlier this month said: “West Ham United remain in a constructive dialogue with London Stadium regarding the potential dates for the proposed bid and await further information.
“Any decisions remain subject to the club’s overriding priority clause, a contractual right ensuring West Ham United games take priority during the football season.”