WMA President Torsten Carlius, in his first public comments on the site selection for the first World Masters Indoor Championships, confirms that Sindelfingen, Germany, has been endorsed by the WMA Council. However, he uses the phrase “if approved” to suggest that it’s not yet set in stone — and that the WMA General Assembly will have its say July 10 in Puerto Rico at the world masters outdoor meet. But he also “takes for granted” that the German bidder is the winner. Here’s what Carlius said in a posting to the Eurovets Web site:

“I have commented upon this proposal previously and hope that it will be a reality from 2004. If approved, we will have a complete programme for our masters, i.e. Stadia, Non-Stadia and Indoors. As you know, the Council got three bids to host these Inaugural Championships in 2004, i.e. from Malmö, SWE, New York, USA, and Sindelfingen, GER. We have made the necessary inspection visits and have three really experienced and competent bidders. In the Council vote Sindelfingen was the winner with 7 votes, New York 5 votes and Malmö 2 votes and I take for granted that our Inaugural World Champion-ships Indoors in 2004 will be organised in Sindelfingen.”
Later in his report (dated May 16, 2003, but not posted until May 20), Carlius writes:
“At the General Assembly now in Carolina we will also award some future World Masters Championships in addition to the Indoors.”
Of course, if Carlius has his way, there will be no “award” of the 2004 indoor meet — only a “rubber-stamp” by the General Assembly, made up of WMA affiliate countries with number of delegates for each nation tied to their participation numbers in recent world masters championships.
(The actual rule: “At the General Assembly, each Affiliate shall be entitled to one delegate and also one additional delegate for each 100 of its competitors in the last three WMA World Championships Stadia (excluding the current Championships), but no Affiliate shall be entitled to more than five delegates.”)
The closeness of the vote (7 for Germany, 5 for USA) suggests that the WMA Council is uncertain of Sindelfingen’s supremacy. The General Assembly might very well choose New York instead. The Big Apple was the top-ranked city in WMA inspections, according to my sources. But will the three cities even get a chance at making their case in Puerto Rico? Remains to be seen.
Curiously, Carlius also declares:
“The Council also proposes that nominations of candidates for Council office shall be made by Affiliates only. Today our Constitution allows the Council to nominate candidates but we feel it is time to remove this rule and bring our Constitution in line with International Sport Associations’ procedures, i.e. all nominations shall come from Affiliates only. This will place the right and power where it should be, i.e. with the Affiliates.”
Not sure what’s behind this — except to distract attention from a trend of WMA Council taking on itself decisions that should be the rightful and sole province of the General Assembly itself.
Also curious — that news of the world indoor site selection should be posted on the Eurovets Web site first instead of the World Masters Athletics site.
Better to be stupid and silent, I guess, than to speak and remove all doubt.