Paris (AFP)
The International Athletics Federation announced Tuesday the launch of a fund of 500,000 dollars (461,430 euros) to help professional athletes who are experiencing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This initiative is carried out in partnership with the International Athletics Foundation (IAF), created in 1986 to support charitable causes linked to athletics.
A multiregional working group of experts, chaired by Sebastian Coe, the head of the International Federation, will be responsible for "assessing the requests for assistance from the six continental associations" and "will meet this week to draw up a plan for 'allocating and distributing grants to athletes and to explore other ways to fund the support fund,' said a statement from World Athletics.
Athletics competitions are stopped worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, like the Diamond League, the major circuit of the discipline, whose season was due to start on April 17 in Doha (Qatar) ) but which will not start before July 4 in London after the postponement of the meetings scheduled for April, May and June.
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