BEIJING, CHINA - AUGUST 29: Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica, Natasha Morrison of Jamaica, Elaine Thompson of Jamaica and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica celebrate after winning gold in the Women's 4x100 Metres Relay final during day eight of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 at Beijing National Stadium on August 29, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Veronica Campbell-Brown;Natasha Morrison;Elaine Thompson;Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

North American, Central American and the Caribbean (NACAC), the strongest member association in the IAAF Family, has taken issues with the World Rankings System.

NACAC Council discussed at length the IAAF World Rankings System at its meeting in Punta Cana on September 28-29 and expressed “multiple concerns”.

The concerns, according to the NACAC Council membership, are “about details of the system, including the relative weighting of various competitions (and the relative status of Area Championships in particular).”

“Critical comments were by no means limited to that issue,” NACAC pointed out.

In November 2017, IAAF announced its new World Rankings System.
“For the first time in the sport’s history, athletes, media and fans will have a clear understanding of the competitions from the world through to global events, allowing them to follow a logical season-long path to the pinnacle of athletics’ top two competitions,” the IAAF said back in 2017.

Athletes’ positions in the IAAF world rankings will be determined by the performance of the athlete and the position of the athlete. The details of the world rankings, including the points system for each event that goes towards the world and the eligibility for entry into the World Championships and the Olympic Games, will be finalized in the first quarter of 2018, so the system can be applied for the IAAF World Championships in Doha in 2019 and the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.

However, NACAC said: “Understanding the system in the athletics community is limited, and on critical points, there are widely disparate views about fairness and viability of the system.”

“Beyond the comments on many specific variables and factors, acute concern was expressed about the lack of genuine consultation with key stakeholders and limited communication.”

“The over-arching issue in light of the above is the IAAF’s declared intent to use the ranking system as currently constituted for qualification for the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Olympic Games.

“NACAC Council therefore unanimously agreed to inform the IAAF that its view is that the ranking the system should not be used for qualification purposes in 2019 and 2020, and rather than the system should be employed strictly on a pilot basis and that it be the subject of further consultation and
refinement prior to introduction as a qualifying system post- Tokyo 2020.”

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