Major General Staff Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, IAAF vice-president and president of the Qatari and Asian athletics federations, took part in the IAAF Council meetings in the Chinese capital Beijing, which hosted the leaders of athletics under federation president Lamine Diack of Senegal, whose term ends this coming August, just before the World Athletics Championships begin in China.
Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, IAAF vice-president, expressed his great satisfaction with the IAAF Council’s decisions regarding the general programme for the current athletics season and the arrangements for the federation’s various challenges, through its discussion of reports from the various committees, especially those relating to technical matters and development.
During its meeting, the federation announced awarding the American city of Eugene the honour of hosting the 2021 World Athletics Championships, after the city submitted a strong bid that won the confidence of the IAAF Council, particularly as it was presented with determination by the American city’s officials on the need to host the major global event in that year, backing their position with their continued permanent hosting of one of the Diamond League meetings.
Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, IAAF vice-president, revealed that the American city, which had lost the race to Qatar to host the 2019 World Championships, was awarded the event this time because the American bid met the IAAF’s conditions and standards for hosting championships at a time when it had no rival, noting that the IAAF saw no need for competition between cities as long as one bid met the federation’s conditions for organising the global event, which is the second-biggest sporting event after the Olympic Games. He noted at the same time the American bid’s officials’ keenness to present a convincing, comprehensive bid to host the event.
He said the IAAF’s decision to award Eugene the honour of hosting the championships, in the absence of a rival bid, means the American city will host the major event for the first time in the championships’ history since they began in 1983.
Satisfied with the meeting’s decisions
Major General Dahlan Al Hamad affirmed that satisfaction with the Council’s decisions on many matters was shared by everyone, especially as the meeting covered many future matters regarding the administrative and technical development of the sport. He affirmed that the federation is heading towards presidential elections, for which Lord Sebastian Coe and Sergey Bubka are standing as candidates, while Al Hamad is standing to retain his position at the federation as vice-president, with the elections to be held this coming August, just before the World Athletics Championships begin.
