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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
WORLD Athletics will this week finalise the criteria to be used in distribution of the US$500 000 fund to professional athletes affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that halted all competitions around the world.

The world body unveiled the package last week together with the International Athletics Federation (IAF) to assist athletes that have lost income in the past few months due to the suspension of international competitions as the world battles to contain the pandemic that has infected over four million people globally and killing over 280 000.

Responding to e-mailed questions by Chronicle Sport on when athletes will begin to receive the bailout and the criteria to be used in its distribution, World Athletics head of communications Nicole Jeffery said they will only be in a position to respond with certainty later in the week, adding that the working group was finalising the details.

“The working group is finalising the details of the process to distribute the funds,” said Jeffery.

Members of the working group include president of World Athletics Sebastian Coe, who also chairs the committee, Olympic champion and 1 500m world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj, Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi (representing the WA athletics commission), WA executive board members Sunil Sabharwal (audit committee) and Abby Hoffman.

Also part of the team are WA members Adile Sumariwalla, Beatrice Ayikoru and Willie Banks as well as IAF executive committee member and former WA treasurer Jose Maria Odriozola and Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines president Keith Joseph.

Established in 1986 to support charitable causes involving athletics, the IAF, under the honorary presidency of Prince Albert 11 of Monaco, has allocated resources from its budgets for 2020 and 2021 to assist athletes in need.

Coe, who also chairs the IAF, will chair an expert multi-regional working group to assess applications for assistance that will be submitted to the WA’s six area associations.

“I am in constant contact with athletes around the world and I know that many of them are experiencing financial hardship as a consequence of the shutdown of most international sports competitions in the last two months.

“Our professional athletes rely on prize money as part of their income and we are mindful that our competition season, both the track and road, is being severely impacted by the pandemic.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to stage at least some competitions later this year, but in the meantime we will also endeavour, through this fund and additional monies we intend to seek through friends of our sport, to help as many athletes as possible,” said Coe.

National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) president Tendai Tagara said they were eagerly awaiting communication from WA on the criteria to be used to choose beneficiaries.

“We are awaiting for further unpacking of the criteria of how and who qualifies for assistance. The key word there is professional athletes.

“We want World Athletics to give us guidance to determine who will benefit,” said Tagara.

As a result of the pandemic, Naaz froze a number of competitions until at least September this year, while Zimbabwean athletes that were looking forward to competing on the international scene were also affected, as the world sporting community took a similar decision to halt all competitions.