World Athletics has maintained its position in the highest band in the fifth review of International Federation Governance conducted by ASOIF (the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations).
In the previous review, published two years ago, World Athletics had progressed from the A2 band to A1, marking continued significant progress from the first review, published in 2017.
In ASOIF’s latest review, published this week, World Athletics maintained its place in the top tier, alongside six other international sports federations.
Over the past eight years World Athletics has placed a particular focus on improving governance, structures and processes within the organisation. This included the introduction of major constitutional changes in 2017 and 2019 to ensure that World Athletics meets the expected standards of governance for a modern global organisation.
They also included the creation of the Athletics Integrity Unit, vetting and disciplinary processes, inclusion of the athlete’s voice to the ruling Council and progress on gender equality at all levels of the sport through the work of the Gender Leadership Taskforce.
World Athletics’ reforms detailed a requirement to have 13 members of each gender elected to the World Athletics Council by 2027 – a target that was achieved last year, four years earlier than the reform roadmap prescribed.
The ASOIF governance review also recognised World Athletics as an exemplary organisation for its World Plan, annual report, gender balance, integrity investigations, safeguarding, Athletes’ Commission, publication of open positions, member governance compliance, development financial transparency, bid allocation, and data protection.
World Athletics President and ASOIF Council Member Sebastian Coe thanked the ASOIF Governance Taskforce for its commitment to promoting good governance and said he was determined to build on the work achieved during the reform process, adding: “I am immensely proud to stand at the helm of an exemplary international federation. Our recognition as an A1 federation is testament to the hard work and the long journey World Athletics has done in recent years to get itself to this gold-standard level.
“I would also like to acknowledge the collective improvement among international federations – the report shows the step-change across the vast majority of international federations as they strive to become models of good governance. It is important that these efforts and the progress made is recognised across the Olympic movement.”
Credit: World Athletics
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