Officials of IAAF and Asian Athletics Association pose for a photograph with representatives of athletics associations from participating countries.
Doha: The 85th Asian Athletics Association’s (AAA) Council Meeting was officially declared open by Qatar Olympic Committee Vice-President Sheikh Saoud bin Ali Al Thani yesterday.
Asia’s top athletics officials, representing more than 40 nations, along with IAAF President Lord Sebastian Coe are taking part in the two-day event as well as the IAAF’s Roadshow Workshop which runs simultaneously.
Crucial discussions to make decisions upon important matters related not only to Asian Athletics but also to the future of the sport, following Sebastian Coe’s recent proposal for governance structure reforms, will be carried out during the event.
The Council Meeting is chaired by AAA and Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) President Dahlan Al Hamad who was also the main speaker in yesterday’s session.
“Athletics is a very nice and popular sport that can flourish even more in the future,” Sheikh Saoud bin Ali Al Thani said in his welcome message.
In his opening statement addressing the delegates, Lord Coe recalled his first visit in Doha 20 years ago: “I still remember the hospitality, the kindness, the friendship of the Qatari people.”
“I see now the buildings that were the only ones standing at the time, surrounded by recent construction: this is a constant reminder of the extraordinary change that took place here in all levels in a few years time and has shaped modern Qatar.
“Here in our Asian family we mourn for two loses, in Doha (former Emir H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani) and in Thailand (King Bhumibol Adulyadej). I would like to express my sympathy to both countries.
“Allow me also to thank Dahlan Al Hamad for waiting to welcome me at 5 am in the airport. This is way beyond the duties of the role of the president of an area, beyond what is written in any organisation’s constitution. I am thankful!”
It is the fourth time in a less than a month Coe attends an area session in an attempt to pass his reform proposal as a whole at a Special Congress to be held in Monaco on December 3, 2016.
“It has been an extraordinary journey that brought me back to the two things I like the most: to watch the preparation of the athletes and spend time with the member federations. Your decisions will strengthen my hand when I will further attempt to enrich our role in society, in governance, for the health and the safety of the young people,” added Lord Coe.
Al Hamad expressed the condolences on behalf of the Asian Federations to the governments and the people of Qatar and Thailand for the loss of two great leaders.
He also thanked Lord Coe for coming to Doha for the third time in eight months: “I honestly wish that under President Coe’s guidance and leadership the sport will get into a new era!”
