The International Association of Athletics Federations President, Lamine Diack, and the Secretary General, Essar Gabriel, will leave the international federation on Wednesday.
Diack, a Senegalese, who is leaving the organisation after a 16-year service, has said his belief that the sport has a strong future under one of two “great champions” lined up as his successor, UK-based ‘SportsBusiness’ said on Monday.
Former Olympic champions and current IAAF vice-presidents Sergey Bubka and Sebastian Coe will face off on Wednesday to succeed the 82-year-old Diack.
Speaking on Monday at the opening of the IAAF Council meeting in Beijing, Diack said: “I am all the more confident of what we have in store as neither of the candidates will find themselves in an unfamiliar environment.
“I have laid the foundation for the future of the IAAF with our two great champions… whoever the IAAF athletics family elects he will be a bona fide son of our sport.”
Diack also informed the Council that Gabriel, who in 2011 had signed a four-year contract with the IAAF up until October 2015, had taken the decision last June not to seek a renewal of his contract.
In other decisions made, the IAAF Council approved the dates for the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
It is to be held March 2 to 4 in Birmingham, England.
The IAAF has also approved the movement of the race walking venue for the 2016 Olympic Games from Flamingo Park in Rio de Janeiro to Pontal.
Additionally, it said the International Olympic Committee has approved the inclusion of a cross-country event as proposed by the IAAF in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, which will be staged by Buenos Aires, Argentina.
They also resolved that the ongoing reform programme for the World Athletics Series of events was addressed, with the WAS Renovation final report delivered to Council by senior vice president Bob Hersh.
The process commenced in September 2014 and the IAAF established four temporary working teams in early 2015 to explore changes under the banners of ‘series strategy’, ‘inside the stadium’, ‘media and promotions’ and ‘out of stadium endurance’.
The IAAF said conclusions were delivered in Monday’s report and the work will be handed over and continued by the new Council which will be elected this week in Beijing.
PANA/NAN.