IAAF Special Congress passes president Coe's reforms

A Special Congress of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has overwhelmingly adopted a reform package drawn up by President Sebastian Coe. It was reported by Sportskeeda.

Some 197 of 213 member federations were present for the vote, which resulted in 182 for, 10 against and five invalid for Coe's reform expected to change the structure of the athletics' world governing body, reports Xinhua.

Coe's proposals, which dedicate to move the sport forward from its tainted past, emphasise on establishing new independent anti-doping, integrity and disciplinary functions along with a greater voice for athletes in the organisation and more gender balance.

As outlined in the reform document, named "Time For Change", the Special Congress voted two constitutions. The 2017 Constitution enables integrity related reforms to be implemented next year, while the 2019 Constitution brings in the remainder of the reforms.

The detailed results were unexpectedly displayed on a big screen at the end of the vote. It showed the 10 against votes came from Benin, Bahrain, Chad, Gambia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Laos, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and the five invalid were from Jamaica, Oman, Senegal, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.