The European Athletics Council has backed the IAAF’s continuing work on the important issue of athlete transfer of allegiance but 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 this weekend, the Council welcomed an update from President Svein Arne Hansen – an IAAF Council member – on the world governing body’s new regulations on transfer of allegiance to ensure the integrity of competitions and athlete welfare, including a minimum waiting period before a transferred athlete can represent his/her country in major championships and the creation of a panel to review the credibility of applications.

President Hansen, sitting alongside IAAF President and ex officio European Athletics Council member Sebastian 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 also welcomed IAAF’s new eligibility regulations that seek to facilitate the participation in the sport of athletes with DSDs (Differences of Sexual Development) on terms that preserve fair and meaningful competition in the female classification.

 

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