Jamaica no to bid for junior athletics meet

Kingston (Jamaica), Dec 10: Jamaica has said it is no longer interested in hosting the athletics World Junior Championships in 2016, citing financial difficulties imposed on the country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Jamaica Administrative Athletics Association’s (JAAA) president Warren Blake announced on Wednesday that the country has decided against submitting a bid after signalling its intention to do so, reports CMC.

Jamaica last hosted the World Junior Championships in 2002.

“It requires in excess of US$10 million (approximately 1 billion Jamaican dollars). The Government would have to issue a bond to cover that amount and with the IMF constraints it really was a non-starter,” said the JAAA president.

“It was really a preliminary wish of the association but after further discussions we decided not to put in a bid.”

The Russian city of Kazan was originally set to host the 2016 World Junior Championships.

However, the championships were shifted from Kazan following an-IAAF imposed ban on that country’s athletic federation.

In November, an independent committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) led by former president Dick Pound, released a report accusing the Russian Athletic Federation of several infractions including being involved in the state-sponsored doping of its athletes. (IANS)