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Bubka pledges financial support for national federation staff

Xinhua, June 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sergey Bubka, IAAF Vice President and IOC Executive Board member, has pledged to provide a financial support program to ensure that all National Federations can employ paid administrators, if he wins the IAAF Presidency election in August.

Bubka, who was attending European Athletics Team Championships in Bulgaria, believes that paid sports administrators are essential if athletics is to grow and maintain its position as one of the world's leading international sports.

Speaking ahead of World Olympic Day, Bubka said: "Athletics is more than just a popular sport - we are an influential global community based on the Olympic Values. We provide entertainment and care about future generations as well as dealing with venues, media, and global projects.

"As I have said in my Program, 'Taking Athletics to the New Heights,' our sport needs to be governed by paid staff at every level - from the IAAF office to the National Federations. A CEO should be recruited by the IAAF to provide greater cooperation between every athletics organization across the world. A global system of professional government is vital if we are to meet the challenges of the modern world."

Bubka said that the IAAF should raise funds to support the appointment of staff for every National Federation and Area Association. These National Federation administrative grants should be at least doubled for the sake of good administration and proper development.

Sergey Bubka is a candidate for the Presidency of the IAAF, and the election will be held in August 2015 during the IAAF Congress in Beijing, China. The other candidate is British legend Seb Coe. Endi