Diamonds in Diamong League, photo by Getty Images/ IAAF

This was announced nine days ago, and we have been catching up on news in our travels.

IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE REACHES AGREEMENT ON MEETINGS FOR 2020 SEASON

The Diamond League General Assembly has today agreed on 14 meetings and 1 final for the 2020 season, which includes all current meetings.

Gateshead will replace Birmingham as a venue, as Birmingham’s stadium is being redeveloped for the 2022 Commonwealth Games so is not available to host the IAAF Diamond League, and there will be a second Diamond League meeting in China. The dates for the Diamond League meetings in 2020 are listed below.

The General Assembly also reviewed the recently announced partnership with Wanda Sports Group and approved the partnership.

A discussion was held on the disciplines to be included in the 90-minute international broadcast window with a review of the fan, athlete and broadcast research.

Further work is being undertaken on whether each meeting is able to host 11 or 12 Diamond League disciplines in the set time frame and which events each meeting will host outside the 90-minute broadcast window. A final decision on the disciplines will be made at the beginning of November 2019.

The IAAF will also launch a second international series of one-day meetings in 2020 (entitled the World Athletics Continental Tour), which will provide world-class competition, top flight world ranking points and earning opportunities for many more athletes, with a focus on those disciplines not featuring regularly in the Diamond League, and which will be broadcast around the world.

The world rankings system will be structured so that athletes in every discipline will earn the same level of points at their highest available one-day meeting series, whether that is in the Diamond League or the new tour.

Chairman of the Diamond League Board, Sebastian Coe, said: “The Diamond League is our shop window and we want to attract new fans with a fast, action-packed format that is commercially attractive to broadcasters and partners. That approach has already been endorsed by our new title sponsor Wanda.

“I am delighted that the Diamond League meetings have chosen to actively support the creation of the World Athletics Continental Tour as this will enable us to maintain strong international competition opportunities for all our world class athletes as they come through their continental structures.”

The dates for the Diamond League meetings in 2020 are:
Doha – 17 April
China (venue to be advised) – 10 May
Shanghai – 16 May
Stockholm – 24 May
Rome – 28 May
Rabat – 31 May
Eugene – 7 June
Oslo – 11 June
Paris – 13 June
London – 4 July
Monaco – 10 July
Gateshead – 16 August
Lausanne – 20 August
Brussels – 4 September
Zurich – 11 September