World Archery reaffirms commitment to good governance practices at Executive Board meeting

The Executive Board meeting takes place in Istanbul on 12/13 December 2015.

World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur Erdener opened the meeting by emphasising the importance of transparent leadership, published procedures and sound administrative processes in protecting the public’s faith in sporting organisations.

“As a federation, World Archery is confident in the quality of its governance structure and we are happy to have a secure internal and external auditing structure,” said Prof Dr Erdener. “But we have identified some areas in which we can be even better.”

“IOC President Dr Thomas Bach has driven positive change in the Olympic Movement with Olympic Agenda 2020, which highlighted the need to strengthen good governance, transparency and ethics. It falls to us, as international, regional and national sports federations, to ensure we take advantage of this opportunity to improve our organisations wherever possible.”

The Executive Board then confirmed World Archery’s commitment to good governance practices by mandating a proactive approach to the IOC’s new auditing practices, the formation of a remuneration commission and a decision to further increase the amount of administrative documentation available to the public.

It was made a constitutional requirement for member associations to follow best practice – in governance, anti-doping and sporting activities – with the approval of an active member association bylaw, agreed in principle at World Archery Congress 2015.

A progress report on phase two of the successful World Archery Plan, which is focused on supporting member federations’ making archery an important sport in their own countries, was followed by the introduction of an innovative internal strategic roadmap.

Focusing on five Ps – Priorities, Products, Promotion, Partnerships and Processes – the strategy enters a consultation phase for the duration of 2016, after which it will ensure, in line with Agenda 2020, that World Archery continues to positively evolve in the lead up to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

As well as receiving reports on departmental activities in 2015 and updates from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a presentation on the progress of the World Archery Excellence Centre revealed the project was on schedule and within budget – and that an official opening would be scheduled for after the Summer in 2016.

The Executive Board made a number of key decisions on proposed bylaws changing rules in the sport from 1 April 2016, the most important surrounding the procedure for signing scorecards at international events.

A change will be made so that at events in which there is a single paper scoresheet and an electronic system in use, during only the ranking round and as long as the scoresheet totals are completely filled in and signed, the totals of the electronic system will take precedence. The arrow values on the paper scoresheet will still take precedence. If an athlete’s scoresheet is not signed, that athlete will be disqualified.

The proposal was made after research into the impact on results of past tournaments. It was found that the change would resolve the majority of issues arising from incorrect scorecards at events, while not negatively impacting on the efficient running of the tournament.

Further information on all bylaw decisions will follow the conclusion of the meeting.