Monte-Carlo - The IAAF has launched the biggest, most in-depth survey of the sport of track and field athletics ever conducted, in partnership with one of the world's leading companies in its field, Sponsorship Intelligence (SI).

The IAAF is keen to gather as much information as possible about the current state of the sport around the world in order to assist it in the planning and development of the sport. Supported by Dentsu/AMS, the IAAF's marketing partners, SI was selected for this prestigious and far-reaching project after an intensive selection process.

As part of a three-year contract through to 2009, SI, the IAAF's first research partner, will review the global state of track and field, with particular focus on the sport's commercial potential, as part of the IAAF's new strategy under its Marketing Director, Luis Carulla.

SI is part of the Publicis Groupe, the world's second largest media consultancy, and already works with a number of leading international sports federations, such as the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and UEFA. Its other clients include blue chip global brands Coca-Cola, MasterCard and Samsung, as well as leading sports agencies.

SI has already been conducting research on athletics for more than a decade, thus offering the IAAF access to an invaluable resource of data and experience in the field.

"In short, SI will provide extensive consumer research, media analysis and additional services in 16 territories, making it the biggest ever research effort yet undertaken by the IAAF, and allow us to build up an excellent picture of both the current state of the sport and our future opportunities," said IAAF President Lamine Diack in announcing the agreement.

IAAF