In the first of a new series of "state of the sport" addresses, Christian Milz, Director General of European Athletics, outlines a number of key decisions and events for the coming year.

Welcome to the first of my regular "state of the sport" updates to you on the European Athletics website.

On behalf of European Athletics, I would like to wish all our members, partners, athletes, officials and media a very healthy and successful 2007! 

Five European Athletics Championships, eleven European Cups, Presidential and Council Elections at Congress, the choice of the hosts for the 2008 SPAR European Cup and the 2009 European Athletics Junior and U23 Championships will ensure a busy year ahead for everyone involved in the sport in Europe. 
 
European Athletics Championships:

This year is perhaps our busiest in terms of the number of Championships and Cups taking place in Europe. In a little over a month, Birmingham, Britain's second largest city, will host the 29th European Athletics Indoor Championships from March 2-4. Already, the anticipation is building for an action packed weekend, in front of a full stadium and millions of television viewers worldwide.

Following this, as the days lengthen and the temperatures rise, the beautiful Hungarian city of Debrecen will host the 6th European Athletics U23 Championships from July 12-15 and we will no sooner have time to catch our breath when the 19th European Athletics Junior Championships will be hosted in the historic Fanny Blankers-Koen stadium in Hengelo, Holland from July 19-22.  

These championships play an extremely important role in the development of the future stars, and seeing names of the calibre of Christian Olssen (SWE) and Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) on the list of previous winners at the European U23 Championships confirms their importance.

The year will conclude, as always, with the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Toro (ESP) and we are looking forward to more well organised and exciting competitions that we have grown accustomed to from our Spanish hosts in recent years. 

Congress:

The Cannes Film Festival will have to take a back seat, when the beautiful French sea-side town plays host to the European Athletics Congress on April 14!

The Congress offers the opportunity for us to meet the leaders of the 50 European Athletics Member Federations. Importantly, elections will also take place for a four-year term as European Athletics President. 

In addition, there will be elections for 2 Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer and 13 positions on the Council. The seats are available for a four-year term for the period 2007-2011. Elections will also take place for the Competition and Development Committee, which will play a crucial role in the organisation. 

Host Cities for future events:
At the 114^th European Athletics Council meeting in March, on the day after the European Athletics Indoor Championships finish, decisions will be made for the hosts for the 2008 SPAR European Cup and the 2009 European Athletics Junior and U23 Championships. Site visits have already taken place and two candidates - Novi Sad, Serbia and Turku, Finland - are in the running to stage the European Athletics Junior Championships in 2009 while Ostrava, Czech Republic and Kaunas, Lithuania will compete against each other for the right to host the U23 Championships the same year. 

These are bids of the highest standard and the host cities and indeed the Member Federations concerned can feel very proud of their candidature of these events. It is also very encouraging to have so many high class cities, bidding to host our events, as research has shown huge economic and physical benefits from hosting these events.

European Cups:

The SPAR European Cup returns to the Olympic Stadium in Munich on June 23-24 and already there are a number of teams waiting to relieve the French men of their title, won in convincing style in Malaga last June! The Russian women will be looking to make it eleven successive wins, but a recent rise in strength in a number of European nations is sure to make it an exciting competition.

Milan (ITA) and Vassa (FIN) will host the 1st League competitions and Odense (DEN) and Zenica (BIH) will host the 2^nd League battles and as always, we look forward to exciting action in five different countries all on the same weekend!

The Winter Throwing Cup will be held in the Ukrainian city of Yalta, the 10,000m Cup in Ferrara, (ITA) and Royal Leamington Spa (GBR) will celebrate the centenary of the English Race Walking Association when it hosts the Race Walking Cup in May. 

Sponsors:

We are currently in negotiation with a number of sponsors and partners and are hoping to announce successful results of these negotiations in the very near future. 

The Future:

2007 will see further developments in our relationship with the IAAF, and we are hoping to unveil our plans for a modernised European-wide competition system before Congress in April.

The change process is already well advanced and the evidence is there for all to see in the higher quality of our events particularly in Gothenburg last summer, the launch of a new and more regularly updated website, greater professionalism and motivation from the head office in Lausanne and our wide ranging partnership with UNESCO, which will become clearer throughout the year.

We also hope to announce details in the near future of a European Athletics led Communication Conference to be held this year.

Conclusion:

Many thanks to you for the time taken to read this "state of the sport" update and I look forward to adding more at a future date. 

Here's to a healthy, busy, active and successful 2007 for everyone involved in European Athletics!

Christian Milz, Director General, European Athletics.