IAAF
Council News: Grand Prix Final to be renamed World Athletics Final
3 July
2002 - Paris - IAAF
Council concluded its first session today, after hearing detailed reports from
the IAAF President and IAAF General Secretary. The main conclusions were:
New Competition Structure will climax in World Athletics Final
Council approved the basic principles regarding the new IAAF Competition Structure from 2003 and decided that the former Grand Prix Final would now be renamed World Athletics Final. It was confirmed that qualification to the World Athletics Final would be based on the World Rankings for each individual event.
Justin Gatlin Reinstated
Council has accepted a request for early reinstatement on behalf of the US sprinter Justin Gatlin. It was agreed that Gatlin had a genuine medical explanation for his positive test: prescription medicine for the condition "Attention Deficient Disorder" (ADD) which was first diagnosed when Gatlin was 9 years-old, had never challenged his suspension, and had not competed in USATF or IAAF events since learning of his test result on 12 July 2001.
However, Council stressed that Gatlin HAD committed a doping offence and issued a warning that any repetition of his positive result would result in a life ban.
The IAAF Council also stated its position in relation to cases of athletes who are proscribed prohibited substances in connection with the treatment of ADD and related disorders. Athletes requiring amphetamine medication for the treatment of ADD must ensure that this medicine is taken under close medical supervision, to ensure that they do not compete under the performance enhancing influence of amphetamines. The IAAF will not grant applications for athletes with ADD who seek an exemption on medical grounds to use amphetamines during competition.
Requests for Early Reinstatement Rejected
Council has rejected the following requests for early reinstatement, on behalf of athletes who tested positive for substances contained in food supplements.
Ali Saidi-Sief ALG
Frank Balzer GER
Andrea Longo ITA
Silvana Trampuz AUS
Caroline Soboll GER
Transfers of Allegiance
Notice of transfers of allegiance have been received for
Bolota Asmero
ERI to USA
Alistair Cragg RSA to IRL
Tanya Blake GBR to MLT
Charles Allen GUY to CAN
Maresa Cadienhead JAM to CAN
New Athletes Whereabouts System
A new system to ensure tighter management of the Athletes Whereabouts system - a foundation stone of the IAAF's Out-of-Competition Testing Programme - was agreed by Council. Closer links will be developed between IAAF, National Federations and Athletes Representatives.
World Bests on the Roads
Following Council's agreement in principle to accept World Bests for selected road running events at its last meeting in Nairobi in April, a number of conditions have now been approved, including:
The course must be measured by an IAAF/AIMS approved course measurer.
The start and finish points on a course, measured along a straight line, shall not be further apart than 50% of the race distance.
The decrease in elevation between start and finish shall not exceed 1 metre per kilometer on average.
It was also agreed that world bests for women could be accepted in mixed races and that different world bests could be recognised for "point to point" and loop Marathon and Half Marathon races.
Malaysia and Zimbabwe
Following a visit of Asia Area Representative Suresh Kalmadi to Malaysia, and democratic elections in June according to IAAF demands, Council agreed that the new Athletics Association of Malaysia could be accepted as the official representative of the sport in Malaysia. However, it was also agreed that IAAF Council Members Kalmadi and Dapeng Lou would monitor the situation over the next 12 months.
With regard to Zimbabwe, where an existing IAAF federation had also been suspended, it was proposed that an on-going dispute between two factions must be resolved before the end of August. Nevertheless, it was confirmed that athletes from Zimbabwe remain eligible for international competition.
Birmingham 2003 and Sherbrooke 2003
Council approved the Timetable for the 2003 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham and the Entry Standards for the 2003 World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke.
2004 World Indoor Championships in Budapest
Council approved the date: 5-7 March
IAAF World Athletics Finals 2003-2004
Pending the opinion of EBU, Council approved the dates:
12-13 September 2003
17-18 September 2004
FISU - Universiade 2003
Following a discussion with FISU, it was agreed that no athlete selected for the 2003 IAAF World Championships can be entered for the 2003 Universiade except with the authorization of the national athletics federation.
