World Athletics awards championships to China, India and Kazakhstan

Host city decisions reflect World Athletics’ strategy to take major events to emerging markets and build on multi-year athletics journey through China

The World Athletics Council has selected Odisha in India and Astana in Kazakhstan to host the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2028 and 2030, respectively. 

The events were awarded during the 240th World Athletics Council Meeting held in Toruń, Poland, ahead of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26. 

The awarding of the 2028 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships to Hefei in China was also among the decisions made during the two-day meeting on Wednesday and Thursday (18-19 March). 

Welcoming the Council to the city of Toruń on the eve of the World Indoor Championships, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “Poland is one of the heartlands of global athletics and one that has a long and distinguished athletics tradition, producing Olympic champions and world record-holders across multiple disciplines over the past century. Poland continues to produce world-class athletes, many of whom will be competing here in Toruń over the long weekend. 

“In awarding the next two editions of this storied championships to Odisha and Astana, I am delighted that the World Indoors continues to go from strength to strength, captivating audiences around the world, and that our next two hosts reflect our strategy of taking our events to emerging markets. 

“I would also like to congratulate Hefei on the awarding of the World Race Walking Team Championships in 2028. They will be the latest in a strong lineup of Chinese cities to host a World Athletics Series event from 2025 to 2028.” 

The 2028 World Indoor Championships will see India host a global track and field championships for the first time, from 3-5 March 2028. Odisha, the eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal, held the Asian Championships in 2017, while the state has also hosted a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting. 

“This is a proud moment not only for Odisha but for the entire nation of India,” said Odisha Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi. “We extend our sincere gratitude to World Athletics and the Athletics Federation of India for placing trust in Odisha to host one of the most prestigious championships in global athletics. 

“Over the past decade, Odisha has made sport a central pillar of its development vision. Through sustained investment in world-class sporting infrastructure, athlete development programmes, and high-performance ecosystems, our state has emerged as a leading destination for international sporting events. Hosting the World Athletics Indoor Championships 2028 will further strengthen our commitment to building a vibrant sporting culture while inspiring the next generation of athletes across India.” 

The awarding of the 2030 edition to Kazakhstan’s capital city, Astana, on 15-17 March 2030 will also see the sport reach new markets. The city hosted the Asian Indoor Championships in 2023 as well as World Indoor Tour Gold meetings in 2024 and 2025. 

“The Kazakhstan Athletics Federation expresses its sincere gratitude to World Athletics for the high level of trust given to us and for granting the right to host the 2030 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Astana,” said Kazakhstan Athletics Federation President Askhat Khasenov. “This significant milestone is a recognition of our country’s efforts in developing athletics and strengthening its position in the world. We are committed to delivering the event at the highest possible standard and are confident that the championships will become a remarkable and memorable event for the global athletics community.” 

Holding the 2028 World Race Walking Team Championships in Hefei, on 9 April 2028, continues a now four-year athletics journey through China, following World Athletics Series events in Nanjing (2025), Guangzhou (2025), Yangzhou (2027) and Beijing (2027). 

The rapidly growing capital of Anhui Province in Eastern China boasts a population of 10 million people and is a key economic player in the region. 

“We sincerely appreciate the recognition and trust extended by World Athletics to China and Hefei,” said Chinese Athletics Association President Sun Yuanfu. “The Chinese Athletics Association will work closely with the Hefei organising committee to advance the preparatory work for the event with high standards, to fully leverage Hefei’s city features and strengths in hosting competitions, provide a platform for athletes to showcase their talent, and strive to deliver a splendid and successful World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships.” 

Qualification principles

Another key competition decision concerned the approval of new principles governing qualification to the World Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games. 

Endorsed by the Athletes’ Commission, the new qualification principles are an evolution of the existing qualification model used for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25. 

The model is again based on a dual pathway, but now 40% of athletes are expected to qualify through entry standards and the remaining 60% through world rankings, rather than the previous 50%-50% split. 

The principles apply to Category C events and above, with the goal of providing qualification opportunities through the global network of Continental Tour meetings. 

The qualification system frameworks for the World Athletics Championships Beijing 27 and the LA 2028 Olympic Games have been provisionally designed based on these principles. Further details including entry standards for each event will be submitted to the Council for approval at a future Council Meeting.

Eligibility Rules and Transfer of Allegiance Regulations

The current transfer of allegiance process was established following a freeze on transfers between 2017 and July 2018. At the time, the process was designed to address concerns over athlete recruitment by Member Federations where athletes had no prior connection with the country or territory. The process was refined in 2022. 

In Toruń, the World Athletics Council approved further amendments to the Eligibility Rules and Transfer of Allegiance Regulations concerning areas such as excessive numbers/en masse applications, recruitment led by clubs of athletes at younger ages, and a cap on the number of applications during an Olympic cycle. The Council has set clear imperatives within the regulations on how transfers are meant to complement the development programmes of applicant Member Federations.  

For clarity, the rules and regulations do not concern athletes choosing where in the world they live, work or train, including signing for clubs and teams in another Member Federation’s country or elsewhere. 

Competitions covered include World Athletics Series events, Area Championships, Regional Games, Olympic Games etc. where the athlete represents the Member Federation in a team capacity. They do not apply for the purposes of competing in one-day meetings or Label races i.e. tours or marathons etc. 

It is imperative that the rules and regulations protect the credibility and regularity of national representative competitions and other relevant competitions, by ensuring that athletes on a national representative team have a genuine connection with the country or territory represented, and do not switch either abruptly or frequently to other national representative teams for purely mercenary reasons. 

The Eligibility Rules and Transfer of Allegiance Regulations will be updated on the World Athletics website in due course.

Age manipulation

The Council approved two minor amendments to Eligibility Rule 3.4 and Technical Rule 3.2. addressing the risk of age verification and manipulation in certain jurisdictions.  

The amendments were deemed necessary with the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 later this year, and will enable World Athletics and the Athletics Integrity Unit to set specific requirements for age verification where there is a high degree of risk of age manipulation.

Competition decisions

A series of other technical rule amendments were approved, including: false start clarification for combined events (CR31.14.4); refining the wording governing qualification rounds to improve procedural certainty and reduce operational disputes in advancement scenarios (TR4.3); clarifying the status of pacing when the pacer is later found to be wearing non-compliant shoes (TR6.3.1); and updating the technical requirements regarding separate discus and hammer circles (TR35 / TR37). 

The Council also approved an update of the Athletic Shoe Regulations to remove throwing events conducted from a circle (shot put, discus and hammer) from the scope of the regulations, therefore permitting athletes to wear the footwear of their choice. 

Amendments were made to the Diamond League Regulations concerning greater flexibility to invite both a global and national wild card to the Diamond League Final. 

All updated documents will be uploaded to the World Athletics website in due course.

World Athletics