Coe defends Fifa role

Sebastian Coe has defended his role as head of Fifa's watchdog body and insisted he is not merely a figurehead.

Coe: There's a job to be done there but it won't happen overnight

He insisted: The committee takes its role very seriously.

"And I will never be just a figurehead. I want to make a difference.

"The FIFA role was something I was asked to do and anybody who knows me, knows I've been watching football regularly for 40 years and I think there's a job to be done there. But it won't happen overnight.

"It's taken a good chunk of the last year to make sure we're in a position to operate in an independent and sensible way," he said in an interview to the Sunday Herald.

Lord Coe is chairman of FIFA's ethics committee, a Chelsea season ticket holder and chairman of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee.

Panorama: Fifa and Coe, BBC One 8.30pm, Monday 22 October 2007