Coe is a serial winner but faces stiff competition from all sides, as well as opposition from current president

More than 40 years after Sebastian Coe powered to his second Olympic 1500m title, he is still running hungry. He’s in the gym most mornings at 6am, cranking out 40-50km a week on the treadmill, doing conditioning work or lifting weights, before meticulously recording his workouts in training diaries – just as he did during his golden heyday. Even at 68 he is still chasing a fresh ambition: securing the most powerful job in global sport.

“I will work harder for this than I’ll probably ever work for anything,” Coe insisted in December when he launched his manifesto to be the next president of the International Olympic Committee. “It’s the dance that I just couldn’t sit out.” That dance, however, is about to get a lot more frenetic.

• Manchester City second in list with £708m earnings
• Top 20 revenue-generating clubs made £9.46bn last year

Real Madrid became the first football club to surpass €1bn (£844m) in revenue in a season when they substantially increased their financial firepower over their major European rivals.

According to the latest Deloitte Football Money League report, Madrid made €1.046bn (£883m) in the 2023-24 season, fuelled by match-day revenue doubling to €248m after the completion of renovations to the Bernabéu and a 19% increase in commercial revenue. They ended the campaign as winners of the Champions League, La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup.