The first ever European Athletics Officials Forum takes place 27-29 September in Warsaw, organised with the support of the Polish Athletics Federation.
Over the course of three days in Poland, the programme will provide the perfect opportunity for experienced and newly-qualified officials to build key relationships with European Athletics, learn from each other’s experiences and share best practice.
Close collaboration to grow the sport
Since 2022, the new World Athletics Referee Education and Certification System (WARECs) was introduced to educate and certify more officials globally.
European Athletics closely collaborates with World Athletics to educate more coaches, technical officials and administrative personnel across the continent. As a result, there are now several hundred more technical officials educated and certified in Europe (Silver and Bronze levels of WARECS system) in recent years.
European Athletics is committed to supporting volunteer officials, who are critical in helping to sustain and grow the sport from grassroots to elite, working closely with Member Federations on recruitment, development and embedding diverse and inclusive principles to ensure our sport is truly representative.
Sharing best practice
With a broader base of officials educated online, there is less frequent opportunity for interpersonal interaction between officials outside of events. So, the European Athletics Officials Forum has been created so new Silver level referees and International Race-Walking Judges will be able to meet and learn from more experienced Gold level referees from Europe.
In a packed programme, attendees will be given an insight into European Athletics upcoming educational activities and an introduction to WARECS, a presentation of the role of Technical Delegate at one day meetings and being a referee at a major championship and how to utilise technology for decision making and effective communication.
There will also be more informal opportunities for attendees to socialise and network and open discussions on their learnings from the forum.
Vadim Nigmatov, Events Operations Director, European Athletics said: “We are looking forward to welcoming the family of officials to the first European Athletics Officials Forum in Warsaw.
“Officials are the foundation of our sport, ensuring we have properly managed and professionally delivered competitions at all levels of our sport. The Forum is the perfect opportunity to show our appreciation and help all officials to continue to develop their skills and knowledge to grow our sport."