Swift action comes after outspoken coach lashes team sprint star Sally Pearson.
Australian chef de mission Steve Moneghetti has confirmed controversial Athletics Australia head coach Eric Hollingsworth will be sent home from Glasgow over his public statement criticising team captain Sally Pearson.
Hollingsworth was suspended on Thursday by Athletics Australia for his statement calling out Pearson for her failure to attend the team’s pre-Commonwealth Games camp.
Hollingsworth had said Pearson’s “no-show sets a bad example to the entire national team.”
AA condemned Hollingsworth for the statement, saying he had acted without the organisation’s authority and in contravention of specific instructions from chief executive Dallas O’Brien.
However AA did not have the ability to have Hollingsworth sent home because his official presence in Glasgow is through the Australian Commonwealth Games Association.
At a press conference in Glasgow on Thursday evening (AEST), Moneghetti said AA had advised of Hollingsworth’s suspension.
“(This) led us to revoke his accreditation and we have made arrangements for Eric to travel back to Australia at an appropriate time,” he said.
“He’s going home today if we can organise flights … Eric is happy with that so we’ve agreed that he will leave Glasgow as soon as it is possible.”
It has been a tough 24 hours for the Australian team in Glasgow.
Moneghetti announced Australian weightlifter Francois Etoundi had had his Commonwealth Games accreditation revoked after his arrest in Glasgow.
Etoundi, who won bronze on Monday in the 77kg category, is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court later on Thursday (AEST) over an alleged altercation in the Games village.
The 29-year-old was arrested and detained at the Village on Wednesday. Originally from Cameroon he was one of three athletes from that team who stayed on after the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and sought asylum
COMMENTS