IEC in Sports becomes the exclusive media partner of the International Athletics Federation in Europe and Africa for the next four years

IEC in Sports, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Sports group, has announced that it has been awarded the media rights for international athletics competitions of the World Athletic Series* in Europe and Africa for the 2010-2013 period.

Following an international invitation to tender launched on 12 August 2009 concerning the marketing of media rights in Europe and Africa to the world athletics championships which it organizes, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) awarded the contract to IEC in Sports, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Sports group.

This agreement makes IEC in Sports the exclusive media partner of the IAAF in Europe and Africa for the four next years for all competitions of the World Athletics Series (WAS).

Among other events, the WAS includes two upcoming outdoor world athletics championships, which will build on the tremendous success of the 2009 World Championships that were held in Berlin. This prestigious competition will be hosted by the city of Daegu in South Korea in 2011 and by Moscow in 2013.

Lagardère Sports CEO Olivier Guiguet commented as follows: “Lagardère Sports is very excited about this agreement that marks the start of a global partnership with athletics federations worldwide. This accord, in keeping with its long-term partnership strategy with rights holders, follows the agreement signed by our subsidiary Sportfive with the CIO concerning media rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games. The International Athletics Federation’s decision to select IEC in Sports to manage its European and African rights is a sign of its strong confidence in the professionalism of IEC in Sports, which is particularly well qualified to assist the IAAF in optimizing the value of its rights. “