IAAF still can’t figure out who these WMA folks are
Last May, I poked fun at the IAAF for referring in its newsletter to the “World Masters Association” — the boogered botching of WMA (World Masters Athletics). Well, as Ronald Raygun used to say, there they go again. The IAAF’s current newsletter stumbles over the name of its affiliated organization anew. In the course of describing progress in the IAAF Athletics’ World Plan, “a broad-ranging nine-year development plan for the sport,” IAAF newsletter No. 76 says:
“Seven working teams have been formed to implement the Plan. . . . The Participation Team has made nine concrete recommendations to provide all people with the greatest opportunities to participate in the sport, ranging from the creation of age groupings for introductory programmes for kids to establishing closer links with FISU and the World Masters Association.”
Emphasis mine.
IAAF has bigger fish to fry than learning what WMA stands for, of course, but geeeezelouise! Get the friggin name right!
Of greater import is: What exactly is the IAAF cooking up for “closer links with FISU (the university games people) and (WMA)”?
Deep in the bowels of the IAAF bureaucracy is a group called the IAAF Masters Committee, chaired by Mexico’s Cesar Moreno Bravo.
Its other members:
Mr Abderrahmane BELAID (ALG)
Mr Jim BLAIR (NZL)
Mr Torsten CARLIUS (SWE)
Ms Bridget CUSHEN (GBR)
Dr Danny DANIELS (CAN)
Mr Jorge Luis DE LA CANALE (ARG)
Mrs Marina HOERNECKE-GIL (ESP)
Mr Teruji KOGAKE (JPN)
Mr Vadim MARSHEV (RUS)
Mr Dieter MASSIN (GER)
Mr Vittorio SAVINO (ITA)
I suspect this group lobbies for money, and IAAF throws some peanuts our way. It also tries to “coordinate” anti-doping regulations and stuff with WMA, but beyond that, its work is a mystery. And communications has never been WMA’s strong suit.
But someone communicate this to IAAF: It’s World Masters ATHLETICS, stupid!
