European Athletics Council backs IAAF on transfer of allegiance work
The European Athletics Council has backed the IAAF's continuing work on athlete transfer of allegiance rules but has called for the minimum waiting period for an athlete to switch nationality to be increased from three to four years.
At its 151st Council meeting in Berlin at the weekend, the Council received an update from president Svein Arne Hansen – who is also an IAAF Council member – on the world governing body’s new regulations on transfer of allegiance which aim to ensure the integrity of competitions and athlete welfare, including a minimum waiting period before a transferred athlete can represent his or her country in major championships and the creation of a panel to review the credibility of applications.
President Hansen (pictured), sitting alongside IAAF president and ex officio European Athletics Council member Seb Coe, said: “The European Athletics Council has agreed that the European representatives on the IAAF Council should insist on a waiting period of at least four years and calls on all members of the IAAF Council to support the proposal.”
The Council is also said to have welcomed the IAAF’s new eligibility regulations on female classification and confirmed that the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships will take place in the Polish city of Torun.
More on the IAAF rules relating to female classification can be found here.
Meanwhile, an investigation has been launched by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency following reports that banned race walking coach Viktor Chegin has been working with athletes in Russia. Chegin is said to have been found participating in training activities at the stadium of Karakol in Kyrgyzstan.
