The fall-out from the review of the Australian Olympic Committee's culture has finally taken a major scalp, with long-serving AOC media manager Mike Tancred out of a job.
Tancred served 18 years with the AOC and had been on leave with full pay since April this year. He was on a salary of $330,000 and was a loyal right hand man to AOC President John Coates, who has been in the chair for 27 years.
A wily operator who was expert at the job of shaping the message the AOC wanted to project, Tancred was at the centre of numerous allegations of misconduct -- including bullying and unfair treatment of staff.
In announcing Tancred's departure, AOC CEO Matt Carroll framed the announcement as part of a restructure. He issued a statement which in part read:
"Since I started, I have been evaluating the organisational structure of the AOC to ensure it is fit for purpose, particularly given the increase in the number of Games we will be sending Australian teams to and the adoption of new objectives for the AOC, particularly in promoting sport in the community.
In light of the broadening of our operations and responsibilities and taking into account the recommendations of The Ethics Centre Review of AOC culture, I have created two new positions...
As a consequence of this organisational restructure, AOC Director of Media and Communications, Mr Mike Tancred will leave the AOC on 13 September 2017."
Carroll pointed out that the independent committee which looked into the AOC's workplace culture had cleared Tancred of bullying.
"What is interesting and particularly relevant to our conclusions is that The Ethics Centre did not find bullying was a problem at the AOC," he said.
While no finding of bullying was made against Mr Tancred, the panel of retired judges commissioned by the AOC did find that Mr Tancred engaged in disreputable conduct when he threatened his old boss, the former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong.
Tancred's abrasive manner was seen by AOC insiders as contrary to the new culture the organisation hopes to instil in coming years, and few are surprised that he has effectively been squeezed out of a role.