IAAF’s reaffirms commitment to Diamond League series

Bengaluru, November 11: The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Seb Coe reaffirmed the global governing body's commitment to the Diamond League series during its General Assembly in London.

Coe had earlier expressed his reservation of many aspects of the Diamond League's current format and was desperate to reform it.

The 2017 season marked the first stage of a fundamental restructuring of the IAAF Diamond League which adopted a championship-style model with the finalists competing for a prize pool of $3.2m.

#tbt #DiamondLeague world records from @amhurdlestar, @Ken_AYE_ Genzebe Dibaba and Ruth Jebet!https://t.co/VZK80nLxIf

— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) November 9, 2017

The introduction of the rankings also bring some focus to the Diamond League, where currently leading athletes often do not compete against each other, leaving fans feeling short-changed and often confused.

In the General Assemly held at London's Olympic Stadium, Coe confirmed IAAF's commitment to the series, a future based upon a programme of radical change aligned to wider reform across the Competition programme.

"Right across the sport there is a commitment to change. We need to give our athletes a compelling reason to compete and our fans a compelling reason to come back to our sport week in and week out. This is a revolution for us and it means facing up to the reality of how people - not just young people - are and want to consume our sport," said Coe.

The timeline is to deliver a new structure, which would be implemented in 2020, in the first quarter of 2018.

"Our sport is strong and we've had a phenomenal year of great performances and exceptional audiences in Uganda, the Bahamas, Kenya and across the Diamond League series," Coe added.