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)