by Alfonz JuckSeb Coe was relected as President of the IAAF. He should have been. But, this is a different 4 years. He needs to find new sponsors (just announced 1-Wanda), he needs to shake up Diamond League and he needs to give Jon Ridgeon the power to reinvent the marketing of ther sport. This is a note on the comings and goings in the IAAF Congress.
Seb Coe, photo by PhotoRun.net
IAAF CONGRESS
DOHA (QAT): Lord Sebastian Coe has been confirmed as president of the IAAF for a second term. At the 52nd IAAF’s congress, he stood unopposed and all 203 voting members voted for him. “This was not an easy journey,” Coe said following his re-election. “It has been a tough four years. There’s no point in being naive or coy about that. We have to grow the sport – we have to reach out beyond the beltway of athletics fans.” Writes insidethegames.
DOHA (QAT): Ximena Restrepo, the 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medallist, has become the first woman vice president of the IAAF. She now lives in Chile (married Chilean shot putter Gert Weil), who represented Colombia during her career, joined Sergey Bubka, Geoffrey Gardner and Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud, who were also elected into the roles. For the first time the IAAF introduced minimum parity requirements for women at all levels of its board. “I’m really honoured to take this position,” said Restrepo. “It’s a great moment for me and for my country. I would like to thank you, Seb, because this was only made possible because of you and the changes made to the constitution. I think we, as women, now have more opportunities than before. I just hope I can do a good job. I’d like to thank all of the member federations who voted for me. I hope I can be all that they expected me to be.” In the women Vice-President vote Restrepo got 85 ahead of Aby Hoffman 68 and Sylvia Barlag 53. Among men Bubka 139 and Gardner 105 with Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud and Juantorena both 71 (later in 2nd round it was 106:100 between them). Not elected Aby Hoffman 64, Jackson Tuwei 62, Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau 56 and Sylvia Barlag 50.
DOHA (QAT): Newly elected 13 members of the IAAF council are: Hiroshi Yokokawa (JPN), Antti Pihlakoski (FIN), Anna Riccardi (ITA), Nan Wang (CHN), Adille Sumariwalla (IND), Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR), Abby Hoffman (CAN), Sylvia Barlag (NED), Alberto Juantorena (CUB), Willie Banks (USA), Raul Chapado (ESP), Dobromir Karamarinov (BUL), Beatrice Ayikoru (UGA). The 13 newly elected members will be joined by six Area Presidents and two members of the Athletes’ Commission, one man and one woman, including the Chair.
DOHA (QAT): Following recommendations made by an IAAF taskforce on Monday, the IAAF Congress voted to extend its ban of the Russian federation.
DOHA (QAT): Following an application by the Athletics Integrity Unit, the IAAF Disciplinary Tribunal has provisionally suspended Mr Ahmed Al Kamali of the UAE for potential violations of the IAAF Candidacy Rules and the Integrity Code of Conduct. He was candidate for Vice President and Council Member at the IAAF Congress elections.
