24 March 2020

Following the further restrictions on movement put in place by the UK Government on 23 March, UKA working with the Home Country Athletics Federations have made the following updates to our previous statement issued on 17 March: 

The suspension of all athletics activity within the UK has now been extended to the 31 May. This suspension includes all organised athletics activity in the UK, including all competitions, training activities, formal club activities, running groups, and any educational or development activity such as coaching and officiating. Any continuation should be through e-learning and virtual means.

These decisions have not been taken lightly and have been made in light of the continuing and real risk to life and to the NHS posed by the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the UK. We must now do all we can do. 

We would ask that the athletics community in the UK continues to help one another by staying connected and supportive of each other whilst at home in these unprecedented times. We will continue to review the situation in line with government and public health guidance.

In addition, please take note of the following updates:

Competition Licensing

Any competition (track & field and road) that takes place during a period in which UK Athletics have advised that all events should be cancelled will have its licence cancelled.

If a licenced is cancelled and the competition is still staged, then it would not be covered by UKA public liability insurance.

Race Adjudicators

Licenced Road and MT races in England and Wales require an Event Adjudicator to observe the event and subsequently produce a report based on compliance with UKA Licence Standards. 

If an Event Adjudicator is not in attendance, then the race is given a Provisional Licence assuming that all other requirements have been met. Results from races with Provisional Licences are currently not accepted by Power of 10/runbritainrankings.

There are 400 Event Adjudicators covering licenced races in England and Wales with well over 100 of them aged 70 or over. Coronavirus may well have an effect on the numbers of active Event Adjudicators when road and MT races resume. Given this, the Chairs of the Regional Licencing Panels who oversee the granting of race licences, along with the runbritain Manager have agreed that Power of 10/runbritainrankings should accept results from races with a Provisional licence until further notice. 

TrackMark

UK Athletics and all Home Country Athletics Federations have agreed to extend the deadline for achieving TrackMark accreditation by 12months, from 1st April 2021 to 1st April 2022.  For any further queries, please email: TrackMark@uka.org.uk

Cage Safety

As per UKAs Cage Safety Bulletin circulated in December 2019, all future license level 2 events that include discus, hammer, weight or club throw are required to take place at a venue that has either a World Athletics specification cage or cage that meets the new UKA specification – this condition will remains in force once competition recommences.

With regards to license level 1 events the bulletin noted that all venues should meet either a World Athletics (IAAF) or NEW UKA cage specification OR be actively pursuing cage modification work.

For those venues with a cage that doesn’t meet the new specification then, as an interim measure for the 2020 outdoor season, it was agreed that Level 1 licenses would continue to be issued subject to formal confirmation from the event/competition applicant provider that a throws risk assessment had been carried out at the venue and that appropriate control measures introduced to bring any risks down to acceptable levels.

In light of the current situation, UKA and the HCAFs have agreed to extend this interim phase to also cover the 2021 season – effectively meaning that venues will have until the start of the 2022 outdoor season (a period of 2years), to bring their cage(s) into compliance. 

The deadline for venues identified as priority 3 (i.e. those venues that do not hold any licensed hammer/discus/weight/club competition) remains at April 2022.  For more information email: facilities@britishathletics.org.uk 

For further information from each HCAF please visit: 

England Athletics https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/news/coronavirus-statement/

Welsh Athletics https://www.welshathletics.org/en/blog/post/extended-restrictions-on-athletics-activity

Scottish Athletics https://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/coronavirus-events-suspended-to-may-31-and-no-group-training/

Athletics Northern Ireland https://athleticsni.org/News/Athletics-NI-News/Athletics-in-Northern-Ireland-Suspension-Extended-until-31st-May-2020