Diack was speaking during the final session of the IAAF Council meeting in Beijing which focused on issues related to marketing and television - and the ongoing preparations for the two major competitions coming up in Asia; the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Said Diack: “Thanks to a perceptive marketing policy since 2001, the IAAF has already secured its long term goal of having capital reserves sufficient to fund one year’s activities, and I believe that this is likely to increase to two years’ reserve by the end of 2009.”
Diack emphasised that the main objective of the IAAF’s marketing policy was to ensure the continued financial stability of the IAAF, and to ensure the widest possible television coverage of the sport worldwide. IAAF’s marketing partner is Dentsu.
He added: “I am delighted to hear in the report from the IAAF Marketing and Promotion Commission that the marketing potential of the next edition of the IAAF World Championships in Osaka are excellent as this confirms the fact that only the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are bigger in terms of global reach and impact. We expect to have more than 190 countries broadcasting from Osaka 2007, and the local organising committee has stressed that the economical impact on Japan will be huge, with $251m expected in terms of income raised.”
