MELBOURNE – Meeting on the eve of the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) 2022, FINA Members adopted key amendments to its constitution during today’s FINA Extraordinary General Congress. The votes consolidated ambitious reforms established over a year and a half, following the election of Husain Al-Musallam as FINA President.
Building on FINA’s commitment to gender equality, a proposal to expand the FINA Bureau in a way that balances gender representation was approved. Nine women are expected to now join the FINA Bureau. Their addition will bring the gender balance up to 38% female and the measures will ensure this proportion serves as a minimum for the Bureau’s future composition.
“This is a big and significant step. Of course, there is more work to do; our target must be a 50-50 split,” said FINA President Husain Al-Musallam. “Today’s vote brings us closer to this goal."
“This is a big and significant step. Of course, there is more work to do; our target must be a 50-50 split. Today’s vote brings us closer to this goal."
The FINA President also praised the work of the FINA Athletes’ Committee. Comprised of athletes from swimming, diving, high diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open water swimming, President Al-Musallam emphasised how the Athletes’ Committee chaired by Alia Atkinson (JAM) is playing a vital role in the aquatics community.
“You are making a vital contribution,” the FINA President said. “You are making sure the voices of athletes are heard.”
“You are making a vital contribution. You are making sure the voices of athletes are heard.”
Key among the reforms has also been the creation of an independent Aquatics Integrity Unit. Proposed by the FINA Reform Committee, the Unit was approved by FINA Member Federations in Abu Dhabi (UAE) ahead of last year’s FINA World Swimming Championships (25) 2021. The Unit’s members were then approved in Budapest earlier this year.
With the adoption of the new constitution, the Independent Aquatics Integrity Unit will become fully operational on 1 January 2023. As a result, athletes preparing for the coming FINA World Championships in Doha and Fukuoka, and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, have additional measures in place to protect them and ensure fair competitions are fully in place.
FINA Members also voted into effect the term of the FINA presidency into the FINA Constitution. The new term aligns FINA with the practice of the IOC and in a manner that maintains term limits.
Further details of changes to FINA approved by the Extraordinary General Congress will also be revealed at an event coming later today at The LUME, a digital art gallery in Melbourne.