_28/01/2000

ISSUE NO. 2000/1 - 28 January

Elina Savolainen - New IOF Assistant



At its December meeting, Council appointed Elina Savolainen to the post of Assistant to the Secretary General. She took up the post on 10 January. The job will include office management and project related tasks. The position

is full-time, based at the IOF Headquarters in Helsinki, Finland.



Elina is a Master of Sports Sciences with sports administration as major subject and sports planning, journalism and French as minor subjects.

During her studies at the University of Jyvåskylå she spent two semesters abroad,

one at the University of Leeds, England, and another at Universitè de Montpellier, France. She has also been a trainee at the World Health

Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland.



Elina was previously employed by the Football Association of Finland where she was responsible for the administration and the management of the national youth teams.



Elina speaks English, French, Finnish (mother tongue) and Swedish.



Earlier last year, Council had decided that the continuation of the 75 Nations Project be included in the job description of the Assistant. The

two-year project coordinated by the Development Assistant Sigitas Stasiulis resulted in a well structured and target-oriented development activity and does not any longer require a person working full-time.



Elina's contact details are:



Tel. +358 9 3481 3119, fax +358 9 3481 3113, e-mail:

elina.savolainen.iof@orienteering.org



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Ski Orienteering and the Olympics



In late December 1999, the IOF submitted an application to the International Olympic Committee for the inclusion of ski orienteering in the programme of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy.



The proposal is to have two individual distances for both women and men included in the programme, namely a super sprint competition and a medium distance event with mass start and loops.



The events are proposed to be held at San Sicario in the same venue as the biathlon competitions. It is also possible to organise the ski orienteering events in the cross-country skiing stadium in Pragelato.



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Elite Ski Orienteering Guide



The 2000 Guide to Elite Ski Orienteering has been circulated to all national federations, events organisers, IOF ski orienteering controllers, national orienteering magazines and media contacts.



The Guide aims to provide essential information about the sport and the IOF events programme, and to give some insight into the world of ski

orienteering - as it is now and its ambitions for the future.



Additional copies can be obtained from the IOF Secretariat, e-mail:

iof@orienteering.org and fax +358 9 3481 3113.



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Ski Orienteering Committee meeting



The Ski Orienteering Committee met on 14 January in conjunction with the World Cup events in Vuokatti, Finland. Among the issues on the agenda were:



· Draft rules for the world ranking events 2001 to be prepared. The first tranking list will be based on the results from the following events: World

Championships 1998, World Cup 1999 and World Championships 2000.

· The committee will look into the possibilities of organising a ski orienteering controller's clinic in autumn 2000.

· The World Cup 2001 programme is about to be finalised in the near future.

An additional World Cup round consisting of three events in Sweden is proposed to be included in the programme.

· The further development of the newly adopted strategy for ski orienteering (see below) will be the main issue on the agenda of the next Committeemeeting.

· The next meeting will be held in late April or early May 2000 in Switzerland (Lausanne) or in Italy (Sestriere/Turin). The committee also

decided to meet in conjunction with the IOF Congress to be held near Graz, Austria.



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Strategy for Ski Orienteering



1. Vision



· To maintain high-quality elite competition at world-class events

· To use established infrastructure in terms of existing event centres and competition areas whilst ensuring that the sport remains clearly

distinguishable from cross-country skiing

· To make use of existing maps of areas naturally suited to the sport so preparation time can be short

· To establish an international event programme ensuring visibility and accessibility within a clearly defined time frame

· To have ski orienteering included in the programme of the Olympic Winter Games



2. Product development and quality conception



The International Orienteering Federation is maintaining and developing the following products:



 · World Ski Orienteering Championships every second year. The programme shall include individual classic and short distances and a relay for men and women.

· World Cup every second year with a minimum of 4 venues, 10 individual races and 4 relay events. Four types of individual races, i.e. classic,

medium, short and super sprint distance, may be included in the World Cup programme.

· Olympic Ski Orienteering every fourth year in two distances (in 2006, medium and super sprint) for a maximum of 50 men and 50 women.

· Combined World Masters Ski Orienteering Championships and Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships every year.



The events shall be organised by well-known and experienced organisers.

Every organiser must meet certain quality criteria before being allocated an event. These criteria should be similar to those established for other IOF disciplines. To increase the number of ski orienteering countries, the IOF may invite developing ski orienteering countries to organise one round of the biennial World Cup.



To achieve quality improvement other than that of a technical nature, the responsibilities of the IOF Controller (event support) should be

re-defined. During the next few years emphasis should be put on sub-areas such as accommodation, travelling and adherence to published time schedules. To meet the demands of media and to ensure visibility for partners and sponsors, theannounced event schedule shall not be changed. The organisers should therefore be selected in such a way that less time can be spent on technical arrangements such as maps, punching and course setting and more time on making the event centre more attractive to media, supporters and spectators.



IOF will consider the option of outsourcing marketing functions, including obtaining partners and sponsors, to an agent/firm specialized in funding and promotion. To achieve synergy in visibility and to build up long-term partners and sponsors, the outsourcing should include all IOF ski orienteering products. Partners are defined those with a connection to several IOF events while a sponsor mainly has a connection to a local

organiser.



Special attention shall be given to the Torino 2006 project. The organiser of these Olympic Winter Games shall be offered a medium and a super sprint distance. Since a major obstacle to entry the Olympic Games is the number of sports and time schedules, other federations (in addition to FIS) will be considered as collaborating partners for the Olympic Games.



3. Tasks to be included in the detailed action plan



 · Contacts with Torino 2006 to be continued at a top IOF level (President, Secretary General and Ski Orienteering Committee Chairman).

· Establishment of a quality assurance group consisting of 3-4 persons and including experienced IOF Ski O Controllers (event support, recruitment needed)

· Revised guidelines for organisers to be prepared with the aim of being applied at WOC 2002. The guidelines should assist the organisers in

applying the event regulations.

· Organising the World Cup every second year from 2001 onwards with a view to improved event quality.

· Establishment of a clear and secure event programme for every World Cup, starting in 2001 (Ski O Committee).

· Ensuring TV-coverage in 2004 and preferably already in 2002 (Secretariat).

· Inclusion of World Cup events in the programme of the pre-Olympics in 2005 (Ski O Committee)

· Assessment of the entire IOF ski orienteering event programme, organised through the Internet (Ski O Committee)

· Audit of Ski-WOC in 2000, 2002 and 2004 together with the organising committee (Ski O Committee)



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The MTB Orienteering World Cup 2000



The 2000 World Cup in MTB Orienteering consists of eight individual races and three relay events. Each competitor's five best results from the total of eight events will count for his total score. In the Relay World Cup, the two best results out of three score for the final ranking. The detailed

World Cup guidelines will be finalized at the next committee meeting.



ROUND 1:

Turnov, Prague, Czech Republic

1 September: Event 1 (Classic distance)

2 September: Event 2 (Relay)

3 September: Event 3 (Short distance)



ROUND 2:

Gedinne, Belgium:

16 September: Event 4 (Free order)

17 September: Event 5 (Classic distance)

Orbey, Alsace, France:

23 September: Event 6 (Classic distance)

24 September: Event 7 (Relay)



ROUND 3:

Veszprem,  Budapest, Hungary:

18 October: Event 8 (Classic distance)

19 October: Event 9 (Relay)

Banska Bystrica, Slovakia:

21 October: Event 10 (Short distance)

22 October: Event 11 (Long distance)



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WELCOME to the IOF CONGRESS

incorporating the XX Ordinary General Assembly

31 July - 6 August 2000

Graz, Austria





The 1998 IOF General Assembly appointed Austria organiser of the 2000 IOF Congress. The congress will take place at the Congress and Seminar Centre of Schloss Seggau near Graz according to the following schedule:



Mon 31 July

- Arrival of Council



Tue 1 August

- Arrival of Committees

- Council meeting



Wed 2 August

- Arrival of Delegates

- Council and Committee Meetings

- Opening Ceremony



Thur 3 August

- Seminar, themes to be announced

- Orienteering event



Fri 4 August

- General Assembly

- Closing Ceremony



Sat  5 August

- Departure of Delegates

- Council and Committee Meetings



Sun 6 August

- Departure of Council and Committee Members



The above schedule gives the dates of the meetings and related activities included in the official IOF Congress programme. Information about optional extra activities, such as competitions, "PWT Champions' Week" happenings, excursions, etc., will be sent out shortly by the local organiser together with details about accommodation and costs, deadline for registration and other practicalities.



Reminders



Please NOTE that proposals from member federations shall reach the IOF Secretariat in writing at least four months before the General Assembly, i.e. by 4th April 2000 (IOF Statutes, article 9.8).



According to the IOF Statutes (article 9.11.3), nominations for the Council are to be submitted in writing to the Secretariat not later than two months before the General Assembly. Only full members may nominate candidates. A member may propose candidates only from its own country.



The agenda will be sent out to the members at least two months before the beginning of the General Assembly and congress material (including all proposals, nominations, the biennial report etc.), one month before the Congress at the latest