India, Kazakhstan World Athletics shows’ hosts

Image: World Athletics

The World Athletics Council (govern the sport of athletics) has selected Odisha (State) in India and Astana in Kazakhstan to host the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2028 and 2030, respectively.

‘WORLD ATHLETICS’ stated that the events were awarded during the 240^th World Athletics Council Meeting held in Toruń, Poland, ahead of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.

Monaco-based the World Athletics (WA), formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and the International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics covering track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running, and ultra running.

‘WORLD ATHLETICS’ further stated that the awarding of the 2028 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships to Hefei (industrial City) in China was also among the decisions made during the two-day meeting held recently.

Welcoming the Council to the City of Toruń on the eve of the World Indoor Championships the World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said, “Poland is one of the heartlands of global athletics and one that has a long and distinguished athletics tradition producing Olympic champions and world record-holders across multiple disciplines over the past century. In awarding the next two editions of these storied championships to Odisha and Astana I am delighted that the World Indoors continues to go from strength to strength captivating the audiences around the world and that our next two hosts reflect our strategy of taking our events to the emerging markets. I would also like to congratulate Hefei on the awarding of the World Race Walking Team Championships in 2028. They will be the latest in a strong lineup of Chinese Cities to host a World Athletics Series event from 2025 to 2028.”

The 2028 World Indoor Championships will see India host a global track and field championships for the first time from March 3^rd-5^th, 2028. Odisha, the Eastern Indian State on the Bay of Bengal, held the Asian Championships in 2017 while the State has also hosted a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting.

The World Athletics Continental Tour is an annual series of independent track and field athletic competitions recognized by the World Athletics. Initially divided into three levels – Gold, Silver and Bronze – the Continental Tour was expanded in 2022 with the fourth tier: Challenger.

Maintained Mohan Charan Majhi, Odisha Chief Minister (CM), “This is a proud moment not only for Odisha but for the entire nation of India. We extend our sincere gratitude to the World Athletics and the Athletics Federation of India (the national governing body for the sport of athletics in India) for placing trust in Odisha to host one of the most prestigious championships in global athletics. Over the past decade, Odisha has made sport a central pillar of its development vision. Through sustained investment in the world-class sporting infrastructure, the athlete development programs and the high-performance ecosystems our State has emerged as a leading destination for the international sporting events. Hosting the World Athletics Indoor Championships 2028 will further strengthen our commitment to building a vibrant sporting culture while inspiring the next generation of athletes across India.”

The awarding of the 2030 edition to Kazakhstan’s capital City, Astana, on March 15^th-17^th, 2030 will also see the sport reach new markets. The City hosted the Asian Indoor Championships in 2023 as well as the World Indoor Tour Gold meetings in 2024 and 2025.

Added Askhat Khasenov, Kazakhstan Athletics Federation President, “The Kazakhstan Athletics Federation expresses its sincere gratitude to the World Athletics for the high level of trust given to us and for granting the right to host the 2030 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Astana. This significant milestone is a recognition of our country’s efforts in developing athletics and strengthening its position in the world. We are committed to delivering the event at the highest possible standard and are confident that the Championships will become a remarkable and memorable event for the global athletics community.”

Stated Sun Yuanfu, Chinese Athletics Association President, “We sincerely appreciate the recognition and trust extended by the World Athletics to China and Hefei. The Chinese Athletics Association will work closely with the Hefei Organizing Committee to advance the preparatory work for the event with high standards to fully leverage the Hefei City features and strengths in hosting competitions, provide a platform for the athletes to showcase their talent and strive to deliver a splendid and successful World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships.”
 

Eligibility Rules and Transfer of Allegiance Regulations

The current transfer of allegiance process was established following a freeze on transfers between 2017 and July 2018. At the time, the process was designed to address concerns over athlete recruitment by the Member Federations where the athletes had no prior connection with the country or territory. The process was refined in 2022.

In Toruń, the World Athletics Council approved further amendments to the Eligibility Rules and Transfer of Allegiance Regulations concerning areas such as excessive numbers/en masse applications, recruitment led by the clubs of athletes at younger ages, and a cap on the number of applications during an Olympic cycle. The Council has set clear imperatives within the regulations on how transfers are meant to complement the development programs of the applicant Member Federations.

For clarity, the rules and regulations do not concern the athletes choosing where in the world they live, work or train, including signing for the clubs and teams in another Member Federation’s country or elsewhere.

It is imperative that the rules and regulations protect the credibility and regularity of the national representative competitions and the other relevant competitions by ensuring that the athletes on a national representative team have a genuine connection with the country or territory represented and do not switch either abruptly or frequently to the other national representative teams for purely mercenary reasons.
 

Competition Decisions

A series of other technical rule amendments were approved including: False start clarification for the combined events (CR31.14.4); refining the wording governing qualification rounds to improve the procedural certainty and reduce the operational disputes in advancement scenarios (TR4.3), clarifying the status of pacing when the pacer is later found to be wearing non-compliant shoes (TR6.3.1) and updating the technical requirements regarding separate discus and hammer circles (TR35/TR37).

The Council also approved an update of the Athletic Shoe Regulations to remove throwing events conducted from a circle (shot put, discus and hammer) from the scope of the regulations, therefore permitting the athletes to wear the footwear of their choice.

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