23 September 2010

The IAAF today praised UKA’s bid for London to host the 2015 World Championships following a three day bid evaluation visit to the capital. IAAF Senior Vice President Sergey Bubka was joined by Vice President Dahlan Al-Hamad, fellow Council member Nawal El Moutawakel  and General Secretary Pierre Weiss and the group were presented with detailed plans on how the Olympic Stadium could host a World Championships in legacy mode.

Bubka, a World and Olympic Champion and record holder, welcomed the UKA led bid: "I am very pleased that UKA are bidding to host the 2015 World Championships. The UK has a strong athletics tradition and history and after 2012 it is important to continue that legacy. Athletics is very popular in this country and London has made a good impression."

UKA Chairman Ed Warner believes UKA’s bid offers a compelling choice for global athletics: "Hosting the 2015 World Championships in the Olympic Stadium will demonstrate a living legacy from 2012, we can build on the success of a home Olympics and grow the story beyond 2012. Following the conversion of the stadium into legacy mode, this Championships could effectively act as a curtain raiser for a vibrant multi-use stadium post 2012."

The next phase of the bid process will be for UKA to secure the Governmental guarantees required by the IAAF, including underwriting of the budget, which Warner is optimistic will be forthcoming: "The arguments for hosting the World Championships are compelling and our conversations with both Government and London have been positive and encouraging but we cannot be complacent especially in the current climate. We will wait until the Comprehensive Spending Review is concluded on 20th October and will then progress our discussions.

"We are looking for a relatively small financial outlay from the Government and City depending on commercial income, which to host a major international event which will have significant economic benefits for London is, in our minds, a reasonable investment. The bulk of the 2015 spend will be in 2014 and 2015 so cash flows can be considered in that context and the financial environment may be a very different one then."

UKA will present their full bid to the IAAF Council in Monaco in November.