The 173rd European Athletics Council meeting concluded in Rome on Sunday (21) with further important decisions, notably with respect to the European Athletics Strategic Roadmap 2024-2027.
The broad concept of the Strategic Roadmap was endorsed at the 171st European Athletics Council meeting in Vilnius, last October and was widely discussed at the next Council meeting in Malaga in January before now being formally approved in the Italian capital. It is available here.
The Strategic Roadmap has three core objectives.
- To ensure a strong and united European Athletics family that can face challenges together.
- To grow and lead the sport in Europe in a financially sustainable way.
- To serve, support and strengthen our Member Federations and the wider community.
“Now that this strategic document has been approved by the Council, it is time to start delivering on its objectives and the priorities of competition, digitalisation and innovation, and community and fulfil expectations from all our stakeholders” commented European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov.
“One important decision taken at this Council meeting relates directly to the competition aspect of the Roadmap and that is a ‘Replacement Policy’ for the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships. This will ensure that there are no empty lanes in the semi-finals and finals of track events or places not taken up in field event finals. This new rule policy benefits athletes and fans alike.”
“However, this is just a small example of how the Roadmap will be delivered and take our wonderful sport forward in Europe.
“The next few years will be exciting times for European Athletics, and we relish the challenge of raising athletics’ profile, attractiveness and relevance even further,” reflected Karamarinov.
Another important presentation at this Council meeting was related to the European Athletics Safeguarding Programme for 2024 with the expansion of educational activities at European Athletics events including the establishment of ‘safe spaces’, as well as supporting Member Federations own national activities.
The qualification system and standards for the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships and 2025 European Athletics U20 and U23 Championships were also approved by the Council in Rome and have been published on the European Athletics website.
- Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships qualification system & standards
- Bergen 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships qualification standards
- Tampere 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships qualification standards
Target performances were also established for inaugural set of European U23 short track records which will be implemented from 1 January 2025.
With the road mile having become a record-eligible event, the European Athletics Council decided that the best men’s and women’s performances at on 31 December 2024 will be considered for ratification as European records.
In addition to the current set of awards that are made at the annual Golden Tracks gala evening in October each year, an Officials Award will now also be made every two years.
This award is specifically intended to honour officials in athletics and promote the position of referees and judges within the sport. Many officials were previously honoured indirectly as recipients of the Member Federation Award.
“It's crucial to acknowledge that officials play a pivotal role in ensuring fair play and maintaining the integrity of competitions. In this respect, directly recognising their contribution was an important commitment,” said European Athletics CEO Christian Milz.
The Development Commission presented a report in which three priorities have been set for the next four years: health and well-being, leadership, and sustainability. The Commission's presentation focussed on key projects in this area and its relevance to the European Athletics Strategic Roadmap 2024-2027.
During this meeting, the Council received from the Roma 2024 Local Organising Committee a detailed report on the final preparations for the upcoming European Athletics Championships in the Italian capital between 7-12 June, the most prestigious and important athletics competition in the world this year after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships will take place in the historic Stadio Olympico between 7-12 June.
The Council also heard that following the success of Munich 2022, the commercial programme for Roma 2024 has sold out for the second consecutive edition of the European Athletics Championships, and in record-time.
It was noted that this result is a testament to the growing commercial appeal of athletics in Europe, with a focus on sponsors who put 'purpose and storytelling' at the core of their activation.
The Council also had an updated financial report which noted a better than breakeven result during the 2020-23 period which meant that in addition to European Athletics being able to cover all its expenses, it was able to increase its support to Member Federations and fulfil all its obligations towards its stakeholders, despite external factors which have included the pandemic, wars in Europe and other instability, and inflation.
The Council also discussed European Athletics revamped digital strategy and its relationship with the Strategic Roadmap’s priority of digitalisation and innovation.
The next three years will be a period of transformation of European Athletics digital platforms and content services, and the European Athletics website is currently undergoing complete overhaul.
European Athletics’ long-term aim is to use its digital platforms as a driver to growth and the promotion of the sport as well as create new revenue streams by attracting new partners and sponsors.
With the help of its revamped digital strategy, European Athletics can fulfil its objective of gathering and synthesising large volumes of data allowing it to enter an informed dialogue with athletics fans and the wider sports community.