Athletics Integrity Unit begins recruitment

Monaco, Dec 19, 2016: Just a fortnight after the IAAF’s membership gave an overwhelming 95% vote in favour of constitutional reform, recruitment of four senior positions for the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is underway.

At the core of the reforms, the Athletics Integrity Unity will be a fiercely independent organisation with responsibility for the management of all aspects of the anti-doping programme for international-level athletes and their athlete support personnel as well as for the management of all other integrity-related programmes operated in elite athletics.

The unit will manage a full range of functional activities from education and prevention to results management, investigations, prosecutions and appeals. The unit will also have a key role in monitoring the compliance of member federations with their obligations under the Integrity Code of Conduct.

Athletics is determined to lead the way to a new era of transparent and accountable sports administration; the first sport ever to delegate complete authority for the management of its integrity programmes to an independently governed and independently operated unit.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe commented: “Sport at its best is about the pursuit of excellence. It involves hard work, discipline, training, review, reflection, adaptation and change. Athletes are reflective by nature and good at objectively measuring themselves and their performance against the best in class. As sports bodies, we need to take the strengths of our athletes and turn them into the strength of the body that governs the sport. The Athletics Integrity Unit will do this.

“I am delighted that the planning for this is now well underway and will accelerate as we head towards the beginning of April 2017 when the unit is due to be operational. We’re now inviting individuals with the necessary skills and relevant experience for either the leadership role or board positions to register their interest,” added Coe.

The Integrity Unit, with a budget of US$8 million, will be launched on 3 April 2017 with an independent governance board, independent review panels and an independent staff to manage the anti-doping and other integrity-related programmes in elite athletics. The unit will assume responsibility for education and testing and for the investigation and prosecution of breaches of the Integrity Code of Conduct by international-level athletes and their athlete support personnel.

Click here to read about the full scope and structure of the independent Athletics Integrity Unit and for details of how to apply for three board positions and the Head of Integrity Unit which have been advertised today. —- IAAF