Athletics: IAAF plan Super League

The lucrative Golden Four series in Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin has been ended to make way for a Super League to be launched by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

The series, which shared 20 one kilogramme gold bars between athletes who won their event in all four meetings, was launched in 1993.

A spokesman for the IAAF confirmed the plan, but said it was unclear when it would start although it should be up and running by 1999. "The idea is to have fewer meetings, but all the important ones concentrated in the Super League," he said.

"There should be around 10 and the meetings of the Golden Four will naturally be part of it. The idea is to have a Super League including the current Golden Four meetings, not a Super League as well as the Golden Four."

The only possible difficulty is working out the television rights, and IAAF members will be briefed shortly on what progress has been made in negotiating new rights.