Athletes barred from competition after Algeria dissolves athletics federation
20 November 2006
By Eva Marie Andersen
The International Associations of Athletics Federation (IAAF) uses powerful weapons in an attempt to stop political interference. IAAF has barred Algerian track and field athletes from all international competitions after Algeria’s athletic federation was dissolved by the country’s Minister of sport, Yahia Guidoum, in September. The decision was taken at an IAAF Council and means that Algerian athletes will not be able to compete in international competitions and thus will not bring home winning titles to the country. IAAF justifies this serious course of action by their malcontent that the Algerian sports minister, Guidoum, in September suspended IAAF’s officers for a period of four years. Guidoum was asked to reinstate the federation’s officers by IAAF but did not oblige and instead set up an interim federation last week. According to IAAF, the minister’s decision to set up an interim committee is totally unacceptable. ”The IAAF strongly supports the independence of democratically elected federations against all form of government interference,” IAAF president Lamine Diack argues on the IAFF’s website. The Algerian sports minister has reacted to IAAF’s decision by saying that Algeria will lodge an appeal. He dubbed the IAAF decision "tactless" and said that "no article in the IAAF regulations mentions a suspension without having been informed beforehand of all the details of the matter".
|