IAAF Appoints New Head of Communications; Russia Update

(ATR) The IAAF has made two senior appointments.

Nicole Jeffery joins as head of communications in May from The Australian newspaper. She replaces Chris Turner who now heads up the federation’s new heritage department.

Jeffery has more than 25 years experience as a sports journalist. She has reported on seven Olympics, seven Commonwealth Games and covered many more major sporting events.

Jeffery will lead the media relations, social media and stakeholder relations teams responsible for driving day-to-day communication and engagement with athletes, fans, media and stakeholders.

The IAAF also named James Lord as director of platforms and distribution.

Joining in June from the England and Wales Cricket Board he will be responsible for managing current broadcast distribution partners, negotiating new distribution partnerships across all territories, creating content and distribution strategies to further develop international audiences and drive revenue.

Lord will be based in the UK working alongside IAAF Productions, the joint venture company with ITN Productions established last year to manage host broadcasting and media production for the federation’s top competitions.

He brings to the role extensive experience in the TV, broadcast and digital marketplace having previously worked for Sky TV and BT Sport where he was part of the team that secured the organisations’ first TV rights deal with the English Premier League.

"These two senior appointments bring global sport knowledge and specialist skills that will help us navigate and maximise the opportunities in a changing media landscape," said IAAF president Sebastian Coe. "Connecting our athletes with the fans through creative content and stories in a multimedia environment is an important part of evolving and growing our sport all over the world."

Russia Update

Around the Rings is told that Rune Andersen, the IAAF Russia taskforce chief, met with a delegation of Russian sports leaders in Lausanne last week on the sidelines of the WADA Symposium.

It was the first meeting of the taskforce with Russia this year.

Andersen held urgent talks with the Russian sports minister Pavel Kolobkov and officials from the Russian athletics federation. RusAF has been suspended by the IAAF since November 2015 over evidence of state-sponsored doping. The IAAF taskforce will update the council at its July meeting.

An IAAF spokeswoman tells ATR that the meeting was held to "discuss progress on the outstanding issues and timelines" surrounding Russia’s reinstatement. Further meetings will be held ahead of the crunch IAAF Council meeting in July.

The Lausanne meeting followed a warning earlier this month from the IAAF that the country’s sports authorities have until July to comply with the necessary criteria for reinstatement or face possible expulsion from the global athletics family.

Coe in Gold Coast, Bangkok

The CARIFTA Games (Caribbean Free Trade Association) starts in the Bahamas this coming weekend. The annual athletics competition will shine the spotlight the hotbed of young talent from across the Caribbean. Around 500 athletes from 26 countries in two age categories (U-17 and U-20) will take part.

IAAF chief Coe is travelling to Australia for the start of the athletics competition next week at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. In addition to his presidential duties, he will commentate for Australia’s Channel 7.

Coe will then travel to Bangkok for SportAccord; he is a member of the ASOIF Council which is scheduled to meet on April 15.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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