Senegalese IAAF president Lamine Diack expressed his great happiness to be present for the sixth time at the opening of the Diamond League, stressing that coming to Doha is nothing new, as he first visited in 1997 for a men’s athletics meeting.
Diack said at the press conference: “In 2000 we organised the finals in Qatar, and it was special because Qatar uses sport to do special and wonderful things, and we are very happy that HH the Amir loves athletics and seeks to give the sport the attention it deserves and to achieve great success.” He added: “The Diamond League series is just a single day, and I believe the Doha meeting will be the best given the large number of athletes taking part, and this series is the biggest because it runs all year round.” He continued: “The Diamond League has also established itself as a sporting event followed closely by huge crowds, with 14 meetings across Asia, Europe and the United States. In the past there was the Golden League in Europe, and now the best athletes compete for prizes totalling 8 million dollars. The IAAF’s Diamond League is also keen to include winners of many Olympic and World Championship titles.”
Lamine Diack explained that the Diamond League competitions will begin with two meetings in Asia, the first here in Doha and the second afterwards in Shanghai next Sunday. As for important conferences and events, they are broadcast live on the official website, while on the competition side Eurosport and the BBC have signed long-term contracts with the IAAF to broadcast the Diamond League. Diack also confirmed that the Diamond League has won the hearts and minds of every fan of the mother of sports worldwide, saying: “We are all keen on development and on continuing to attract young people and increase interest amid the many challenges facing the IAAF. As for me, this is my last year as IAAF president, but I am confident in my successor’s ability to develop athletics through the strategies and foundations we laid down in the past, and we always aim to have a good, successful product.”
He added: “We need the support of all organisers and athletes,” stressing that this support serves the athletes’ interests and helps the great improvement in professionalism, noting that some athletes earn 100,000 euros a week, and so we want things to be more professional in our sport. Diack thanked Qatar warmly for its punctuality and commitment in organising the event, saying he hopes for outstanding organisation of the 2019 World Championships in Qatar, which achieved the impossible and made staging this event possible on its soil.
Asked about gymnastics and swimming earning more revenue than athletics from the Olympic Games, Diack confirmed that athletics received 45 million, by virtue of being in the first group, while gymnastics and swimming received only 25 million, being in the group below it. “Today I am leaving with a cash reserve and budget surplus of 67 million dollars in one go, even though some expected the IAAF to go bankrupt, and this is a fine achievement — that we have financial security through our partnership contract with Dentsu — and we only hope that China and Russia return to their former excellence in the mother of sports.”
