Sweden Slams IAAF for Gifting 2021 Worlds to Eugene; Diack Denies Crisis

(ATR) The Swedish athletics federation has blasted the IAAF Council for awarding the 2021 world championships to Eugene without a bidding contest.

In April, the IAAF’s ruling body took the unusual step of bypassing the usual bidding process to award the federation’s premier competition to the U.S. city. It followed Eugene’s failed bid last November for the 2019 edition which were awarded to Doha, Qatar.

IAAF president Lamine Diack said at the time it was an "enormous opportunity" to take the world championships to the USA for the first time, saying the decision was taken "in the interest of the global development of our sport".

Swedish federation president Björn Eriksson, who expressed his disappointment in April about the lack of bidding process along with European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen, slammed the council again at the IAAF Congress in Beijing.

He said Sweden's "confidence in the current IAAF Council is seriously affected. I express my sincere hope this will not happen again".

Eriksson said such IAAF decision-making without consideration of other bids was "affecting the dreams and aspirations of other cities".He was angered that Gothenburg’s bid was not even examined and the Swedish federation was "not given an explanation of the situation of council".

Diack’s response hardly diffused the situation."It is 33 years since we waited for this," he said, describing it as a "beautiful way to close this period [his presidential reign]."

Attempting to explain the decision, Diack said a lengthy discussion had taken place at the IAAF Council and it was "almost unaminously accepted" – 23 members voted in favor, one was against and one abstained."An exception of course," he said. "I wanted myself to go to Sweden… blame it on an old president who wanted to give this opportunity to the USA. I am sorry about this."

Aside from the IAAF presidential election and heated debate on introducing term and age limits, Eriksson's explosiveremarks were the only other moment of significant drama at the meeting, which concluded Thursday.

New IAAF Members

Kosovo and South Sudan were accepted as new members of the IAAF family, bringing the total number of national federations to 214. Both countries were able to vote in the IAAF presidential election on Wednesday and will send athletes to the Rio 2016 Olympics.

The suspension of Gabon was also confirmed at the congress. Around the Rings is told that government meddling in the affairs of the nation’s athletics federation led to the ban. One of the reasons concerned interference in the election of executive board members.

Diack Signs Off

After 16 years at the helm of athletics, Diack delivered his final speech as president at the conclusion of the IAAF Congress. Plenty had changed under his leadership and in his 40 years at the IAAF, he said. Diack, an IOC member from Senegal, said he was pleased to end on a high note with the world championships taking place in China, one of his big ambitions.

"Let’s stand together to make this championships a big success," he said. "I rejoice that I can pass over the baton to Seb. We should wish him the best of luck and hope the whole team will stick together around him so we can succeed with all our enterprises and initiatives.Beyond the field we need to give our sport a new dimension."

Diack received a lengthy standing ovation before embracing each of the IAAF Council members.

At an IAAF/ world championships news conference later Thursday, Diack denied that he was leaving the sport in crisis amid the doping allegations swirling around track and field.

He insisted athletics was in good shape, and suggested new president Sebastian Coe would ramp up the fight against doping. "He’s big enough and strong enough to face up to these allegations and these problems and show that they are wrong accusations," he said of the allegations about suspicious blood results over a 10-year period published by German broadcaster ARD and the Sunday Times a few weeks' ago. "He loves this sport. He will do a great job."

Did he regret never taking the world championships to Africa?"No, I have no regrets about this. This was not one of my objectives," he said, adding that he couldn’t ask for investment because the continent wasn’t ready to host the IAAF’s flagship competition.

Gabriel Set to Leave

General secretary Essar Gabriel is set to depart the IAAF for a fresh challenge at the end of October. He signed a four-year contract in 2011 and decided not to renew his deal."I do not know what the future holds but certainly I have been blessed to work under the leadership of the president. It’s been great," he told the press conference.

Gabriel said he took the decision earlier this year, saying he "wanted to ensure any transition [under new president Coe] takes place in the best way and in good order".

Next Congress

The 2017 IAAF Congress takes place Aug. 1-3 in London ahead of the world championships in the British capital.

Reported in Beijing by Mark Bisson

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