IAAF brings Diamond League to Africa, knocks out New York

IAAF brings Diamond League to Africa, knocks out New York

Friday, March 4, 2016 9:57 am


100 metres Athletes at a Diamond league meeting

100 metres Athletes at a Diamond league meeting

Rabat, Morocco will in May this year host Africa’s first Diamond League meeting, one of the 14 global series of one-day athletics meeting.

Morocco’s participation was approved at the General Assembly of the Diamond League meeting yesterday in Zurich, Switzerland.

The Meeting International Mohammed VI, which will be annually held in the Moroccan capital’s Complexe Prince Moulay Abdellah, replaces New York, USA with immediate effect for the 2016 season.

Launched in March 2009, the IAAF Diamond League – which features the world´s best athletes competing across 32 individual track and field disciplines – has for its first six competition seasons (2010-2015) included host cities in Asia, Europe, and North America.

With the addition of Rabat, the series of 14 meetings – which annually takes place from May to September – now includes a fourth continent, Africa.

IAAF president Coe and Morocco's Athletics Federation President Abdeslam Ahizoune

IAAF president Coe and Morocco’s Athletics Federation President Abdeslam Ahizoune

Rabat first applied for membership of the IAAF Diamond League in 2014 and has since undergone a rigorous evaluation process to confirm its organisation, facilities and services were of a high enough standard for inclusion into athletics’ top-tier international invitational circuit.

Sebastian Coe, IAAF President and Chairman of Diamond League AG, commented: “We are pleased to be able to take our premier athletics series into a new continental area. The IAAF Diamond League offers the best athletics entertainment to the world outside of the IAAF World Championships and the Olympic Games. Broadcast annually in more than 120 countries, the series provides athletics with its next most prominent global shop window. We thank New York for contributing to this great project during the past six seasons and know that they will continue to support athletics in the future. We proudly welcome the inclusion of Rabat.”

Abdeslam Ahizoune, FRMA President / Meeting Director Rabat, commented: “This is a proud moment for our country’s athletics community and for the international reputation of Moroccan sport in general. The inclusion of our meeting in the IAAF Diamond League is a clear affirmation of the ability of our country to deliver the highest international standard sports product.”

2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar

6 May – Doha, QAT
14 May – Shanghai, CHN
22 May – Rabat, MAR
28 May – Eugene, USA
2 Jun – Rome, ITA
5 Jun – Birmingham, GBR
9 Jun – Oslo, NOR
16 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
15 Jul – Monaco, MON
22-23 Jul – London, GBR
25 Aug – Lausanne, SUI
27 Aug – Paris, FRA
1 Sep – Zurich, SUI
9 Sep – Brussels, BEL

*Sourced from www.iaaf.org


Join The Conversation

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.