After receiving the delegations from the four cities who presented to Council their proposals, the vote was taken. To be elected in the first round, a candidate had to obtain an absolute majority: 26 members of the Council being present at the vote (the 27th member Anji Aoki of Japan was unable to attend), 14 votes were required for an absolute majority. This necessary condition being fulfilled, the selection of Seville was confirmed.
The Spanish Minister for Sport, Pedro Antonio Martin, the Mayor of Seville, Señ ora Soledad Becerril and the President of the Spanish Royal Athletics Federation, Professor José Maria Odriozola, who headed the delegation, expressed their great satisfaction: for Seville this was some compensation after the city’s exclusion from the short list of candidates for the 2004 Olympics.
The Council, which will close its session tomorrow, on the eve of the 25th IAAF -Pirelli World Cross Country Championships, also decided to accept two new federations as provisional members, Palau and Eritrea. These admissions will take the number of Member Federations to a record 209.
Finally, past Olympic hammer throw champion Andrey Abduvaliyev (TJK) has been authorised to compete for Uzbekistan.
ENDS Downloadable .PDF version of the original Press Release
