AFRICA MASTERS ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
CONSTITUTION
(as amended at General Assembly, Brisbane, 2001-07-08)
1 Name
The name of the Association is AFRICA VETERAN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION ( AMA)
2 Reasons for and Purpose of the Association
2-1 To organise, regulate and administer veteran athletic on the continent of Africa Region of the World Masters of (WMA)
2-2 To promote veteran athletics meeting on the continent of Africa.
2-3 To organise and develop Africa Masters Championships in accordance with the IAAF Rules as read with and subject to the WMA Constitution.
2-4 To ratify Africa Veteran Athletics records and best performances in each age group and to maintain statistics on other outstanding veteran athletics performances on the Continent of Africa
2 -5 To foster international friendship, understanding and cooperation within the Continent of Africa
3 Affiliation
3-1 Affiliation of AMA shall be affiliates of WMA Africa as defined in the WMA Constitution as read with the IAAF Constitution
3-2 Affiliates fees shall be established by the General Assembly.
3-3 No affiliates shall be expelled from membership unless and until such expulsion will have been decided upon by resolution at the General Assembly, by a simple majority.
3-4 The AMA delegate to the WMA Council shall be appointed from time by the AMA Council which shall have the power to vary that appointment as it sees fit in its sole and absolute discretion
4 Composition of Association
The composition of the Association is:
4-1 the General Assembly,
4-2 the Board;
4-3 The Council.
5 The General Council.
5 The General Assembly:
5-1 The General Assembly shall be comprised of the AMA Board and the nominated delegates appointed in writing by each of the AMA affiliates.
5-2 each affiliate shall be entitled to a minimum of the delegates for up to 50 registered veteran athletes and to one additional delegate for every 150 additional registered veteran athletes. However, no affiliate shall be entitled to more than 5 delegates irrespective of its number of registered veteran athletes.
5-3 The General Assembly shall normally meet in conjunction with such biennial stadia Africa veterans’ Championship. The date shall be notified to each affiliate together with information of which Council positions require elections, not less than 60 days prior thereto. The invitation for the General Assembly , the Agenda and any proposals received together with nominations for election to the Council and applications for Stadia Africa Veteran’ Championships shall be transferred to affiliates not less than 45 days before the date of the General Assembly.
5-4 During the General Assembly, only those delegates and AMA Board members present shall each have one vote. Voting by proxy shall be permitted subject to the requirements as laid down is Clause 5-2 of this Constitution. Furthermore, the president, sitting as Chairman, shall also have additional vote in the event any vote being tied.
5-5 Any General Assembly properly called may take its decisions regardless of the number of voting representatives present. Decisions, except those requiring amendments to the Constitution, shall be taken by simple majority.
5-6 proposed amendments to the constitution shall be required to be notified by written statement to the President or the Secretary General not later than 14 days before the date of the General Assembly. For the adoption of any such proposed amendments, a two-thirds majority of delegates present shall be required.
5-7 The members of the Council shall be elected by the General Assembly. Nominations for elections to the Council must be submitted to the Secretary Assembly not later than 14 days before the date of the General Assembly. If 2 or more candidates receive a minimum of 51% supporting votes from the delegates present, the candidate with the lowest number of votes shall be withdrawn and a new vote shall be conducted. Such procedure shall continue until one of the candidates receives a majority of votes cast and representing a minimum of 51% of the delegates present at the General Assembly. In the case of 2 candidates receiving an equal number of votes, a second ballot shall take place and if there is still aquality, the issue shall then be decided by a draw.
5-8 The Agenda for the General Assembly shall consist of:
5-8-1 the opening of a General Assembly and the approval of the Agenda;
5-8-2 confirmation that the General assembly is properly convened and recording the names of the delegates present entitled to vote at the General Assembly
5-8-3 election of two delegates for the verification of the minutes;
5-8-4 election of the two scrutineers for the ballots;
5-8-5 receipt end debate of reports from and the adoption of the reports from;
5-8-5-1 the Present and / or the Vice Present;
5-8-5-2 the Secretary General
5-8-5-3 the Women’s representative;
5-8-5-4 the treasurer
5-8-5-5 the Drugs/Doping Official;
5-8-5-6 the appointment of Auditors
5-8-5-7 election of the Women’s representative, the Statistician and the rugs/Doping Official to the Board;
5-8-5-8 election of the AMA Council in accordance with the provisions of 5-7, above;
5-8-5-9 establishment of affiliation fees if when approved by the WMA Council
5-8-5-10 recommendations as to the venue for the next Stadia AMA Championships;
5-8-5-11 vote on any written proposals distributed to the affiliates not less than 30 days before the date of the General assembly;
5-8-5-12 general
5-8-5-13 closure
No other items may be decided upon at a General Assembly.
5-9 decisions of the General Assembly must be recorded in written Resolution and signed by the President and Secretary General and verified by two delegates appointed to verify the minutes in terms of 5-8-3
6 The board
6-1 The Board shall consist of:
6-1-1 the Council; a
6-1-2 the Women’s Representative;
6-2 The Board may take provisional decisions regarding interpretation and the working of the Constitution until the next General Assembly
6-3 In case of a tied vote, the President shall have a casting vote.
6-4 A board meeting shall be convened by the President written notification tog other with the Agenda therefor at least 30 days before the date such meeting.
7 The Council
7-1 The Council shall consist of:
7-1-1 the President
7-1-2 the Vice president
7-1-3 THE Treasurer
7-1-4 the Secretary General
7-2 Only the veteran athletes who are members of AMA affiliates shall be eligible for membership of the Council.
7-3 No Council member is permitted to hold more than position at the Council or Board at the same time. If, however, a Council member resigns during the course of a legislative period, the Council may then appoint an existing member to act in place of the resigned member until a new election takes place at the next General assembly. Any such council appointment shall terminate at the commencement of the next General Assembly
Irrespective of the fact that the Council appointee will have served less than a four year term of office.
8 Africa Masters Championships
8-1 Africa Masters Championships are held as follows:
8-1-1 Stadia events, every numbered year starting 1994
8-1-2 Non Stadia events, every odd numbered year commencing 1995
8-2 The location of the Stadia Championships is decided by the Council upon the recommendation of the General Assembly and by the Council for all other championship meeting
8-3 Application to hold the Stadia Championships shall be submitted to the Secretary General of AMA not later than 45 days before the General Assembly. It shall contain a description of the city, the stadia, training, accommodation and other facilities available for the successful holding of the championships. It must be accompanied by written agreement of the national Athletic Association ass well as of the municipality concerned. Application for all other championships shall be submitted to the Secretary General of AMA not less than one year before the date of the proposed event. Furthermore, the affiliates will be informed of all relevant decision taken by Council by the Secretary General.
9 Impeachment
9-1 A member of the council may be impeached on the ground that the has exercised his powers improperly or that he has failed to carry out his duty satisfactorily.
9-2 Any 3 members of the Council or any 6 affiliates may institute Impeachment proceedings against a member of Council by notifying the Secretary General in writing of the charges and sending a copy thereof to the accused.
9-3 Not later than 7 days after receiving the charges, the Secretary General shall circularise them amongst all members of the Council, writing whereafter the President, in consultation with the Council, mat suspend the accused from office until the proceeding concerning the complaint will have concluded.
9-4 If the charges reach the President less than one year before the opening date of the next Stadia African Championships, the charges and the accused’s reply thereto shall be considered by the next meeting of the General Assembly where a formal vote; by simple majority shall decide the matter.
9-5 If the charges reach the President one year or more before the opening date of the next Stadia Africa Championships, he shall letter to the accused immediately that his reply to the charges must reach him not later tam 45 days after the date of the mailing of such letter to accused. The charges and the accused’s reply thereto shall be sent to each of the affiliates with a voting paper enabling each affiliate to cast the same number of votes as the number of the delegates to which it was entitled at the most recent meeting of the General Assembly. The votes of each affiliate must then reach the President not later than 30 days after the date of the mailing of this letter to them as otherwise late or non-returns shall be treated as pro non scripto.
9-6 The result of the voting shall be accordingly notified to all affiliates and members of the Council within 21 days of the closing date thereof. If the impeachment is carried, the President shall remove the impeached member from the Council.
9-7 If impeachment proceedings are instituted against the President or the Secretary General, the duties of the accused as provided for in this paragraph 9 shall be carried out by the Vice President.
10 Matters not covered
Where a matter is not specifically covered either in this Constitution or the By-Laws enacted by the Board or in the Rules for Africa Masters Championships, which may be issued by the Board from time to time, the Constitution of WMA shall stand as the guiding authority.
11 Dissolution of the Association
In the event of the dissolution of AMA, its assets shall be distributed amongst the affiliates in proportion to the number of delegates to which each would be entitled at a meeting of the General Assembly.
12 date of validity
This Constitution shall be deemed to have come into effect by resolution of the General Assembly on the 12th day of may 1994 being the date of the first General Assembly of AMA.
The President Secretary General
