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Asia to back Primo Nebiolo's re-election bid

At the Congress of the Asian Amateur Athletic Association in Fukuoka, Japan -- being held in conjunction with the 12th Asian Athletics Championships now reaching a finale at the venue -- members decided to support the bid of president Dr Primo Nebiolo for re-election.

Nebiolo participated as an ex-officio member and, in his speeches to the Congress delegates, underlined the fact that his presence there was a sign of recognition of the importance attached by the world athletics movement to the work of the Asian association, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

The Congress also decided to confirm the choice of Jakarta as the site of the Asian Championships for the year 2000. If any difficulties arose between now and then, owing to the unsettled state of the Asian financial market, Sri Lanka and Malaysia were named as alternative hosts.

Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, first vice president of the Asian Association, proposed that the Asian association adopt as their candidate for president of the IAAF Dr Nebiolo. The motion was unanimously accepted.

The Asian Congress then made it mandatory for its members to be present, and to support the candidacy of Nebiolo, at the presidential elections to be held at the IAAF Congress in Seville in August, 1999.

The 75-year-old Dr. Primo Nebiolo, of Turin in Italy, has a degree in Political Science and a doctorate in law. A linguist, he is fluent in Italian, French, Spanish, English and Portuguese, besides knowing a smattering of other languages.

Besides his work with sports, Dr Nebiolo is chairman of several companies engaged in construction, including Finmeccanica, one of the largest state holding companies in Italy, comprised of 85 individual companies with more than 95,000 employees.

Nebiolo first attracted notice in the athletic field as a consistent, national-class long jumper for the University Sports Club in his home town of Turin (CUS Torino). War interrupted his athletic career, but Nebiolo returned to claim a place on the national team.

While still active, he was elected president of CUS Torino -- a position he holds even today.

From there, he moved into the Olympic movement, both in his native Italy and abroad, and is still active as an IOC Member and executive board member of the Italian Olympic Committee, besides his role as head of the global athletics governing body.