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On the second day of its meeting in Monaco, the IAAF Council agreed a number of hosts for future events.
There were two candidates for the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, the second most important competition on the IAAF calendar, Doha, Qatar and Istanbul, Turkey. Following excellent presentations from the two candidates, a question and answer session, Council voted, and the winner was Doha, host of the 2006 Asian Games.
However, due to the excellence of the Istanbul candidature, Council also agreed to award that city the 2012 edition of the same competition.
“These were clearly two top class candidates demonstrating not only excellent facilities and organizational capabilities but outstanding levels of support from public authorities,” said IAAF President Lamine Diack. “I am glad that Council agreed that we should take this opportunity to ensure that the next two editions of the World Indoor Championships would help us in our aims to universalize our sport.”
Doha 2010
Doha is home to numerous sports facilities, many of which were renovated in preparation for the 15th Asian Games, and hosts the annual IAAF Super Grand Prix athletics meeting.
The Doha Aspire Academy, launched in 2004, is a sports academy which aims to develop world-class athletes. It is situated in the Sports City Complex, which also includes the Khalifa International Stadium, the Hamad Aquatic Centre and the Aspire Tower.
Doha also hosts international tennis and football events as well as the MotoGP motorcycling grand prix. Doha is also bidding for the 2016 Olympics.
Istanbul 2012
Famous as the only city in the world that straddles two different continents (Europe and Asia), the historical city of Istanbul is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with a population of nearly 15 million. The old capital of the legendary Ottoman Empire is now one of Europe’s youngest and most exciting cities.
The World Indoors will take place in the Sinan Erdem Dome, which has a capacity of 17,500 seats, just 10 minutes away from the international airport.
Amman gets conditional approval to host 2009 World Cross
Council agreed to award the 2009 edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships to Amman, Jordan, on condition that it is able to fulfill a number of organizational requirements by 15 December, 2007.
Amman, the modern and ancient capital of Jordan, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. The city's modern buildings blend with the remnants of ancient civilizations.
Amman is located in a hilly area of north-western Jordan, and successfully hosted the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships, with only 3 weeks warning, after the withdrawal of the original hosting city Beirut. Jordan has also hosted the Asian Cross Country Championships.
Race Walking comes home – Chihuahua awarded 2010 World Race Walking
17 years after Monterrey welcomed the IAAF World Cup of Race Walking, Mexico will organise the event again. But Chihuahua will become the focus of attention for race walking leading up to the event, because the city will also host events of the IAAF World Race Walking Challenge in 2008 and 2009.
Home of the Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa, Chihuahua is a city (but also a region) of just under 1 million inhabitants, located in Northern Mexico, at the intersection of the rivers Chiviscar and Sacramento.
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