World Athletics Executive Board re-appoints Arat, Hoffman and Sabharwal as members

Hasan Arat, Abby Hoffman and Sunil Sabharwal have been approved by the Executive Board Ex-Officio members as re-appointed members of the World Athletics Executive Board.

The three candidates were initially appointed to the Executive Board in 2019. The Executive Board Appointments Panel’s recommendations were to maintain continuity by reappointing Arat, Hoffman and Sabharwal for the 2023-2027 period.

Arat, a former professional basketball player, is the Vice President of the Turkish Olympic Committee and an Executive Committee Member of the European Olympic Committee. He is also Vice Chairman of Beymen, Turkey’s largest retail group.

Hoffman, who represented Canada in middle-distance events at four Olympic Games, has been a World Athletics Council member since 1995 and currently chairs the World Athletics Safeguarding Taskforce as well as represents the World Athletics Council on the Athletics Integrity Unit Board. She is currently the Assistant Deputy Minister for the Strategic Policy Branch for Health Canada.

Sabharwal, a three-time winner of the NCAA All-American fencing title, has been Secretary General of the International Fair Play Committee since 2003. The US Olympic fencing team Chief de Mission in 2008, he has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee commission on sustainability and legacy since 2000. He was US Executive Board Member of the International Monetary Fund between 2016 and 2018.

The role of the Executive Board is to govern World Athletics’ business. The Executive Board has responsibility for all decisions related to the business of World Athletics including the annual plan and budget, risks and compliance, and organisational policies, procedures and systems.

Three of the nine members of the Executive Board are appointed rather than elected, to ensure the Executive Board has the necessary skills, expertise, as well as gender and geographical diversity, to undertake its responsibilities.

Along with the three re-appointed members, the Executive Board includes World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, Senior Vice President Ximena Restrepo, Vice Presidents Raul Chapado, Adille Sumariwalla and Jackson Tuwei, and CEO Jon Ridgeon (non-voting).

Credit: World Athletics