The nomination process for the 2027 World Athletics Council elections has been launched ahead of the World Athletics Elective Congress in Beijing, China.
This Elective Congress, which is due to be held immediately before the World Athletics Championships in September 2027, will elect the World Athletics President, four Vice Presidents and 13 individual Council Members for the next term (2027-2031), in accordance with the World Athletics Constitution and Rules & Regulations.
The campaign period begins on 1 March 2026 with all nominations received by 1 June 2027. All candidates must first apply to the Vetting Panel by 31 March 2027 and be declared eligible in order to be nominated by their Member Federation’s Board.
As part of the term limits for Council members, World Athletics Presidents are elected for a maximum of three four-year terms – a central component of the sweeping governance reforms Sebastian Coe himself introduced in 2016 after he was elected to lead the organisation.
Reflecting on his presidency so far, and what lies ahead for the sport, Coe said: “Leading World Athletics over the last decade has been an immense honour and privilege and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed.
“Running for President, Vice President, or Council member comes with a huge amount of responsibility and accountability. The decisions World Athletics needs to make over the next decade are as crucial as those we have made in the last decade, albeit on a much sounder and more stable foundation.
“As elected members to govern athletics, we are caretakers doing all we can to improve and grow our sport so that we can hand it over to others in the best shape possible so they too can improve and grow athletics around the world.”
The 2027 election is a competency-based process under the oversight of the independent Election Oversight Panel (EOP), with the support of the independent Vetting Panel. All candidates and Member Federations are bound by World Athletics’ Integrity Code of Conduct.
The EOP ensures that the organisation, running, and supervision of the elections are of the highest integrity, and that candidates conduct their candidacy with honesty, fairness and respect for others. The Vetting Panel ensures only candidates who meet World Athletics’ high integrity standards are eligible to stand for election.
With the objective of carrying out the most transparent election process possible and in order to help ensure the most qualified candidates are elected, all participants will be provided with multiple opportunities to engage in presentations and discussions with the membership of World Athletics.
More information on the elections is available in the Candidate Pack, which can be downloaded from the World Athletics Library.
