The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) has moved to prevent a repeat of the situation last year when a number of local meets were not included in the list of events recognised by the global governing body.

The Jamaica Observer has learnt that the matter was raised during the JAAA annual calendar conference on Saturday. The understanding was that the fee to be listed on the World Athletics (WA) calendar would be incorporated into sanction fees each meet is required to pay for an event to be recognised.

At least 14 meets were left off the global calendar last year, a situation that several meet organisers claimed they were not aware of, even as the JAAA said it had provided sufficient notice.

Only performances at meets listed on the global calendar are recognised by World Athletics. From those meets athletes earn world ranking points which can be used to qualify for major championships.

Ian Forbes, first vice-president of the JAAA, stressed the importance of meets being listed on the global calendar.

Meets which were excluded last year include McKenley-Wint, SprintFest 100m, Douglas Forrest, Queen’s Grace Jackson, STETHS/Ollivierre/Smith Invitational Meet, Western Relays, Central Champs, Western Champs, Throws Fest 1-4, Big Shot, and King of the Rings.

A release issued by the Garth Gayle-led local athletics association in January had listed just over 20 meets that met the approval conditions — including electronic timing and all-weather synthetic tracks — and were automatically submitted to World Athletics.

During Saturday’s conference, David Riley, WA global calendar liaison and deputy chairman of the JAAA Competitions Commission, reminded attendees that as of January 1, 2023, World Athletics had changed the system, requiring meet organisers to seek accreditation via their national federations.

The application for a meet to be recognised by World Athletics should be accompanied by a euro $35 fee.

“Meet organisers [should] apply to the JAAA for sanctioning. That requires at least two weeks from the event. JAAA sanctioning is different from being listed on the World Athletics global calendar,” Riley explained to the Observer in January regarding the process.

He added: “To be listed on the global calendar, World Athletics requires an application to be submitted 60 days from the date of the event. That application cannot be submitted by the meet organiser but the JAAA does it on their behalf and is billed for each meet listed. The JAAA requires a written request from the meet organiser 70 days from the date of the event with the 10 additional days used for the internal processes including invoicing and collection of those fees.”

Checks made by the Observer at the time indicated that several meet organisers, including the County of Cornwall Athletics Association and Western Relays, were unaware of the adjustments.

One meet organiser, who asked for anonymity, questioned why the JAAA did not “use their initiative and submit the list of meets and take the fees out of our affiliation fees.”

In February 2019, World Athletics launched its global ranking system in a bid to find an objective way of identifying the top athletes in each event as well as to compare athletes across disciplines. Under the global ranking system, athletes score points based on a combination of their results, placing, as well as the level of competition in which those results were achieved.

“In December 2022, World Athletics Council voted to approve a rule change in which the governing body would only recognised results of competitions that are achieved in those listed/published in their database referred to as the World Athletics global calendar,” World Athletics stated.