JAAA defends abstention at IAAF Congress

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) has once again defended its refusal to back Sebastian Coe's proposed constitutional changes at the IAAF's Special Congress in Monte Carlo on December 3.

The reforms, called "time for change" and aimed at changing how the IAAF operates following a major corruption scandal, were overwhelmingly passed at the congress two weeks ago, after members voted 182-10 in favour.

The JAAA in a press release issued late Friday night, reiterated what its president Dr Warren Blake told RJR Sports a week ago that they chose not to vote because they were presented en masse as 15 proposals under one umbrella, which would be introduced at the start of 2017 and 2019.

The local governing body said "this in itself was unprecedented", adding that they knew of no other time in the 104-year history of the IAAF that federations had to vote for a series of proposals as a unit.

Jamaica and Ukraine were among the countries who either voted against the proposals or abstained.    

Particular concerns to the JAAA was the decision to alter the composition of the IAAF ruling council to reflect gender balance and the proposal to remove the current age limit of 70 years old, which was only agreed in the 2015 constitution, without any discussion.

The JAAA also claimed that the IAAF council’s executive board would be drastically changed without full discussion among member federations.