First IAAF Council meeting for 2006

The first IAAF Council meeting for 2006 concluded in Osaka yesterday.  The meeting was very successful but was a sad occasion due to the death of General Secretary, Istvan Gyulai.  Nevertheless, good progress was made in the many areas requiring the attention of the Council.  I have listed below a few interesting points arising from the meeting which may be of interest to you

  1. Pierre Weiss has been appointed by the Council as the Acting General Secretary to replace Istvan.  Pierre and the IAAF President will work together on a restructuring and reorganisation of the IAAF office so that the workload is distributed more evenly.
  2. The Oceania Area has the highest rate of participation in World Athletics Day (89%).  Congratulations to those Member federations who agreed to take part in this program.
  3. Member Federations which do not submit all the required Annual Report documentation for 2005 by 19 April 2006 will not receive any of their IAAF Grant for 2006!  No money at all!   Consequently, can I please beg you to complete and submit your Annual Report Form, Project Proposal Form, Aquittal Form and Inventory by or before 19 April 2006.  (I already advised you of this previously).
  4. The Constitutions of all Area Associations are being examined by the IAAF Juridical Commission to ensure that they comply with IAAF requirements.  We will receive advice from the Juridical Commission in time for us to ask any necessary remedial action at our 2007 Area Congress.
  5. The venues for future IAAF competitons were decided:
    -   2008 World Junior Championships - Bydoszcz (Poland)
    -   2010 World Junior Championships - Moncton (Canada)
    -   2008 World Road Running Championships - Rio de Janiero (Brazil)
    -   2010 World Cup in Athletics - Split (croatia)
  6. There is to be a meeting of the Presidents and General Secretaries of the Area Assoiations in Paris in June.  One of the important responsibilities of this meeting will be to co-ordinate the world-wide competition calendar for the next four years.  Consequently, please expect yvonne to ask you to provide the dates of your national championships for each year up to 2010!
  7. The IAAF had a better than expected financial outcome in 2005 coming in USD 2 million ahead of budget.
  8. Two Oceania Member Federations have not yet paid their annual subscription fees to the IAAF.  I (or Yvonne) will contact these Federations to ensure that they do so.
  9. There is a news item on the IAAF website providing more information about the ouitcomes of the Council meeting.