India's Kalmadi elected new president of AAAA
India's Kalmadi elected new president of AAAA
JAKARTA (JP): Suresh Kalmadi of India was elected the new
president of the Asian Amateur Athletics Association (AAAA) on
Friday, replacing Mohammad "Bob" Hasan of Indonesia.
In a vote at the association's congress being held at the
Jakarta Convention Center in Central Jakarta, 19 executive
members of AAAA voted for Kalmadi, while 14 cast their ballots
for the incumbent Hasan, who had led the organization since 1990.
Eight votes were declared invalid.
It became a two-person race for the association's presidency
after three other candidates -- Khalid bin Thani Al Thani of
Qatar, Eisa Al-Dashti of Kuwait and Muhammad Imtiaz Ali of
Pakistan -- withdrew.
Hasan could not attend the congress because he has been placed
under house arrest by the Attorney General's Office. The one-time
golfing partner of former Indonesian president Soeharto was
arrested in March after being named a suspect in a US$87 million
corruption case.
A third four-year term would have allowed timber tycoon Hasan
to equal the length of time Seiko Yasuda of Japan served as
president of the association.
Kalmadi, who has chaired the Amateur Athletics Federation of
India since 1988, said during a media conference after the
congress he planned to develop track and field in Asia, similar
to the Grand Prix series in Europe.
"We already have 25 competitions a year in India. I hope Asian
countries can stage a similar number of competitions to help
develop the sport.
"I also aim to raise more funds to finance track and field
development on the continent," he said.
Kalmadi expressed hope for the performance of Asian athletes
at the upcoming Olympic Games in Sydney starting on Sept. 15.
The secretary-general of the Indonesian Amateur Athletics
Association, Tigor Tanjung, said Hasan would accept any decisions
made by the congress.
"Pak Hasan understand his prohibition from the organization.
He let the congress members decide his fate. He accepted it,"
Tigor said, adding that Hasan's absence also influenced his
chances of being reelected.
Al Thani maintains his position as senior vice president of
the association, while Maurice Nicholas of Singapore was
reappointed secretary-general.
Shang Xiutang of China, Hideyuki Sasaki of Japan, Ng Ching
Kwok of the Philippines, Mowafak Joumaa of Syria and Lertrat
Ratanavanich of Thailand were named vice presidents of AAAA.
The congress also named Sri Lanka as the 2001 host of the
Asian Track and Field Championships, Hong Kong as the 2001 host
of the marathon championships and Nepal as the 2001 host of the
cross-country championships. (yan)