47th IAAF Congress – Day 1

The 47th edition of the IAAF Congress, the highest decision making body of the association, met today at the Hotel Estrel, Berlin for the first session of its two day biennial gathering.

198 of the IAAF’s 213 National Membership Federations and a total of 371 delegates were at today’s meeting which was presided over by IAAF President Lamine Diack.

Major decisions:

No False Start

The following proposal was approved:

“Except in Combined Events, any athlete responsible for a False Start shall be disqualified.”

“In Combined Events only one false start per race shall be allowed without disqualification of the athlete(s) responsible for the false start. Any athlete(s) making further false starts in the race shall be disqualified from the race.”

Vote:

Yes - 97
No - 55

World XC – every two years

The proposal that the World Cross Country Championships should be held every two years alternating with Area championships was approved.

Vote:

Yes - 132
No - 22

Technical Rule Change Proposals – Amendments by Council

The amendments to Article 13 of the IAAF Constitution will give the power to the IAAF Council to amended Chapter 5 of the IAAF Competition Rules (Technical) no longer on an interim but on a permanent basis. These Amendments shall be done in consultation with the IAAF expert Committees and Commissions, and at the discretion of Council to report any sensitive matters to the attention of Congress.

IAAF Council: Minimum of six women

Commencing with the elections which will take place at the 48th IAAF Congress, Daegu, Korea in 2011, there will be a minimum of SIX women on the IAAF Council - currently four - without increasing the overall size of the Council.

Note. With the IAAF President at its head, the IAAF Council consists of 27 elected members and the General Secretary, including one President, four Vice Presidents, one Honorary Treasurer, one representative from the Area groups (6) and 15 individual members. The IAAF General Secretary sits on the Council as an ex-officio member.

Athletes’ Commission – Six elected unopposed

The IAAF Athletes’ Commission is composed of 19 members:

- 1 Chairperson and 6 Members nominated for a four-year term by the IAAF Council;
- 6 athletes elected for a four-year term by their peers during the odd numbered Congresses;
- 6 athletes elected for a four-year term by their peers during the even numbered Congresses.

For the six positions to be filled on the occasion of the 47th IAAF Congress in Berlin, Germany, nominations for candidates were requested from all IAAF Member Federations and by the deadline, six (6) candidatures were received to fill the six available positions.

Therefore these nominated athletes will be part of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission for the period 1 January 2010 until 31 December 2013:

Tommi Evila, FIN (Long Jump)
Nadine Faustin-Parker, HAI (100m Hurdles)
Lornah Kiplagat, NED (10,000m & Half Marathon)
Romain Mesnil, FRA (Pole Vault)
Victoria Poludina, KGZ (5000m)
Szymon Ziolkowski, POL (Hammer Throw)

Veteran Pin recipients:

Wilfried Daniels (RSA)
Armelia Edet (NGR)
Bisrat Gashawtena (ETH)
Suhail Q. Al-Zawawi (KSA)
Alexey Kondrat (KAZ)
Ranjit L. Weerasena (SRI)
Fratisek Fojt (CZE)
Philippe Lamblin (FRA)
Fernando Mota (POR)
Conrad Francis (GRN)
Calvin Greenaway (ANT)
Edwin Skinner (TRI)
Willie Fong (SAM)
Anthony Green (PNG)
Titaua Juventin (PYF)
Marcos Oviedo (VEN)
Lionel de Mello (URU)
Juan Rodolfo Rieder (PAR)

IAAF

Please note - The IAAF Competition Rules handbook incorporating the changes to the Rules made by Congress shall be published in English by the 1st of November and in French by the 1st of December of the same year.