Amadeo I D Francis (PUR)

A former 400m hurdler and Olympian, IAAF Vice-President Amadeo Francis has worked for almost 30 years not just in his native Caribbean but for the interests of world athletics. Now, he faces his greatest challenge as Chairman of the IAAF Development Commission 

• How did you become involved in athletics?

I got involved in athletics administration in the mid 1970's around the same time as Lamine Diack and Primo Nebiolo. Jim Ferris, who was President of NACAC at the time, retired from his position. I was elected to take his place, and I’m still involved today.

As a youngster I competed at the Caribbean Games, the Pan American Games, where I was a finalist, and the Olympics of 1952 and 1956.

In 1952 I went to study at the London School of Economics to complete my thesis. I was a member of the University team and at the time held the British Universities records for 110 and 440 yards hurdles, even though my main discipline was the 400m hurdles.

I took part in the British Amateur Athletic Association championships with the famous Arthur Wint of Jamaica [1948 Olympic champion at 400m]. One race stands out in particular when he looked at me and said "You boy, keep that medal, because that's the only medal you're gonna win with an Olympic champ," and it was!

• Do you have a career outside of athletics/sport and what is it?

I did my graduate degree, pre-doctorate and doctorate in Economics. For most of my career I have been a civil servant for economic development, primarily involved in the process of attracting industry to Puerto Rico. Right now I run the US Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority, an investment service for banking and funding. I manage a budget of US$ 1 Billion, so in one respect you’re dealing with a billionaire !!

• How do you manage to combine the two diverse aspects of your careers?

It has become more and more difficult. When I joined the Council in 1976 there were only two meetings a year. If you wanted to attend you had to pay your own fare and your own accommodation. The IAAF Headquarters was in London and John Holt, the former General Secretary managed the affairs of the IAAF from a tiny office. Holt would meet the IAAF President at that time Lord Exeter, for about 30 minutes once a week to discuss IAAF matters. That was when Lord Exeter would let Holt into his mansion!

The IAAF has evolved a lot since then, but I've always been lucky. When I worked in Puerto Rico I was in charge of 100 people, with a chauffeured limousine, so if I wanted to go to an IAAF related meeting in Brussels, I flew first class, spent three days at the meeting, and then flew on to Frankfurt to meet our man there. I could afford it, or rather, the Government could afford it!

Wherever I've worked, the importance of my involvement with the sport and IAAF was made clear, and office material and secretarial duties were set aside for this. The conditions were always accepted.

At this point in time I would love to be able to devote all my time to athletics, but I am still very much involved in the international financial scene. Last year I negotiated a bond issue of the value of $3 million. That's a big responsibility and very exciting and inspiring.

• What do you personally gain from athletics?

When I was discovered as an athlete, I had been in the boy scouts. I wanted to be an Eagle scout but I was completely physically uncoordinated, I couldn't walk or run a mile in 10 hours. Then one day, out of the blue, someone saw me and said "Hey look at that guy" and I was brought over to meet him and he said: "You are going to be a future champion". It was the turning point of my life: everything changed, including obtaining a scholarship to continue my studies.

When I was an athlete I got to see the world. Then when I became President of the Federation I remember taking some athletes to the Caribbean Championships. Their heads were glued to the windows of the aeroplane and I asked them if this was their first time on an aeroplane and they said "Oh yes, sir!" this was the first time they had left their city, they had never even taken the ferry from one side to the other. And when we arrived and were taken to the stadium and the competition area, our athletes stayed in one group, the Jamaicans in another, the Barbados team in another. But by the time the event was over they were communicating, they often couldn't speak the same language, but they were interacting and I knew I'd found the right thing to be involved in.

I wanted to give these young people the same opportunities I had had, to see the world. I had been to Helsinki for the 52 Games, to Australia in 1956. When I went to Helsinki they had never seen black people. The Asians had just got there before us but the local people just couldn't get enough of us blacks! The culture shock was incredible. I felt I had to make that opportunity available to other young kids. Of course, the experiences now are not quite the same, when these kids were straining to see what Puerto Rico looked like from the air. I enjoy helping these kids to grow, to interact with other cultures, to become better human beings.

I find that Development is where you get to make the greatest contribution. That is where you can help the most. That's what keeps me going, it's a very deep, personal involvement.

• What are your hobbies and interests outside of the athletics world?

It’s a case of athletics, athletics, athletics! But I love to read novels, particularly spy novels, when I’m travelling. I have books all over my apartment. I read a lot. I always travel with books and bathing trunks and although I haven't been to the beach in 20 years, I always have a pair in my suitcase.

• You are President of NACAC, and until 1999, you were Area Representative for NACAC on the IAAF Council. This area continues to enjoy a blossoming of athletics talent. How do you account for this success?

We developed a good competition programme to inspire and encourage our young athletes. The Carifta Games for under 17 year-olds is a major factor in junior development and was created to complement the schools programme. We try to attract youngsters around the age of 14 and the competition programme is a great place to spot talent and we then nurture the talent found there.

The CAC Championships (Central America and Caribbean) provides intense competition and a sound jumping board for athletes looking to attain the higher levels of the international circuit.

We also have a sound network of regional competitions, in collaboration with high schools.

• A large sum of money from the IAAF's global budget is reserved for development, do you think it is enough or too much?

Not enough of course! But what is also important is that the money that has been set aside and targeted is used in such a way that everybody in the IAAF Family here in Monaco is satisfied.

• You have been involved in the IAAF Development programme for many years. Could you explain the role of the Development Programme within the IAAF and its importance for the future of Athletics?

At the first Council meeting I attended in Brussels, when Adrian Paulen was IAAF President, the budget allocated to Development was $250,000 per year. I suggested $1 million per year, the entire budget for four years.

In 1984 I ran for the office of IAAF Vice President against Ollan Cassell and my campaign was based on Development.

Our former President Primo Nebiolo appreciated the importance of Development to such a point that he personally presided as Chairman of the Development Commission. He allowed more than 10% of the Federation's budget to be used for the Development Programme. The money was divided as follows:

1. Education (of coaches, officials and Federation leadership)
2. Administration Grants
3. Competition grants, approximately $2 million each going to each Area

For training, the 10 RDCs (Regional Development Centres) run by the IAAF Development Department are of vital importance, as they help put the theory into practice. But all the coaching and training in the world is worth nothing without regional competitions and such like. In my opinion, the most important thing is to have a good competition programme, because competition is the whole point of athletics.

As for the administration courses, these are aimed at helping our members become better skilled at using their resources from the IAAF, allowing them to have minimal office facilities. We want to make a token contribution, making it more easy to realise what is available from the IAAF in order to help them promote athletics in their country. It's all very well giving them money, but they have to be taught how to use it properly. We aim to help 160 Federations out of 210. These targeted countries will access the RDCs and receive special funding from us. We must help them to help themselves, to become partners with us.

The IAAF is one of the leading International Federations in the world. We have to make our Members perceive themselves as "franchises" of the IAAF who have the exclusive right to organise athletics within their national boundaries. But a franchise needs to be pushed and encouraged to attain a certain level of quality.

The Member Federations of the IAAF are very important. They must try to obtain the same success and recognition on a national level as the IAAF has on an international level. There is a lot of competition from soccer, basketball, etc but they must try.

• You were elected Chairman of the Development Commission very recently. What do you see as the priorities of the IAAF Development Commission now?

I was elected as Chairman of the Development Commission at the 1999 Congress. At long last! For me this was a dream come true.

I am working with the Development Department on a four year plan. To me the two most important departments of the IAAF are the Competitions Department which serves the athletes and the Development Department which serves our members.

The system has been successful, the results are there. Every year more and more athletes get to the finals of major international competitions, and more athletes are getting onto the medal podium.

If you take the example of the 1995 World Championships, the Caribbean athletes seemed to blossom out of nowhere. But what they achieved there was the fruit of many many year’ labour. Look at the Bahamas. The former President of the Bahamian Federation Alpheus Finlayson [now an IAAF Council Member] had set goals of getting Olympic medals in Barcelona ‘92 and subsequent championships and brought them to fruition. This is the reflection of tremendous effort over the years. The Bahamas started off with a good junior programme and the results are visible today.

I feel the time has come now for the Development Department to target specific goals. We have to put them down on paper and set a date for review. When that time comes we have to see if our plans have worked. If they haven’t, we review and make changes or scrap the idea completely. The same applies for the RDCs. We have to pinpoint problems and eliminate them.

• The IAAF Development Programme has in the last three years opened three International High Performance Centres (in Senegal, Mauritius and Kenya). What is the importance of these centres to the IAAF and what role will they play in the future?

We plan to open 8 High Performance Centres over the next four years all over the world, the Centre in Manaus (Brazil) which is already operational will receive a contribution from the IAAF, and another centre is planned for Jamaica in 2001. The aim is to have a total of eight centres worldwide with two in NACAC, three in Africa, one in South America, one in Asia and one in Oceania. These Centres provide the nucleus for the development of young athletes who have the potential to be finalists and semi-finalists at major international competitions. The main aim is to provide the opportunity for a wider number of countries to win medals.