Bulgaria’s Dobromir Karamarinov was unanimously re-elected as President of the Balkan Athletics Federations (ABAF) during the Balkan Congress held in VrÅ¡ac, Serbia, on 24 September.
Karamarinov also serves as Vice President of European Athletics as well as President of the Bulgarian Athletics Federation.
The Congress was attended by European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen, IAAF President Sebastian Coe and IAAF Vice President Sergey Bubka.
A special reception for Hansen, Coe, Karamarinov and Bubka, held in the afternoon in Belgrade was hosted by the Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić. President of the Athletics Federation of Serbia Veselin Jevrosimovic and General Secretary Slobodan Brankovic then guided their guests to the indoor arena that will host the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships, which is currently under construction.
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The proposal to integrate Israel as a 16th affiliated Member Federation of ABAF was among the most significant decisions made by the Congress.
The Member Federations that form ABAF are Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Israel, FYR of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Türkiye.
ABAF was founded in 1929 and has organised regional championships and major athletics events for over 80 years.
The 5th Balkan Athletics Gala will take place in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 18 November.