The newest African nation of South Sudan has been granted provisional membership of the international athletics federations by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council.
“The IAAF has received and reviewed an application for IAAF Membership from the South Sudan Athletics Federation,” the IAAF said in a statement after the second of three days of its Council Meeting in Monaco on Wednesday.
“The application was judged to meet the requirements, as set out in Article 4.3 of the Constitution, and provisional IAAF Membership was granted to the South Sudan Athletics Federation (SAA), with full rights and obligations.”
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 after a majority vote in January 2011 referendum to secede and become Africa’s first new country since Eritrea split from Ethiopia in 1993.
Because South Sudan does not yet have a recognized National Olympic committee (NOC), US-based South Sudanese athlete, Guor Marial, competed under the Olympic flag in the men’s marathon at the 2012 summer Olympic Games in London.
Meanwhile, the IAAF World Race Walking Cup has a new name.
The IAAF Council confirmed that – based on the Council’s approval during the July 2014 meeting – the name of the competition formerly known as the IAAF World Race Walking Cup has been changed to the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships.