Evans elected ASA president

Johannesburg - James Evans was announced as the new president of Athletics SA (ASA) on Saturday.

Evans replaced suspended president Leonard Chuene.

The position was left vacant after the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) found Chuene and former ASA vice president Kakata Maponyane guilty of financial impropriety in February.

Chuene was banned from involvement in any sport under the jurisdiction of SASCOC for seven years, and Maponyane was handed a five-year ban.

The announcement was made by an ASA official after midday at a special general meeting in Johannesburg.

The nine nominees put forward for the president's post earlier this month included Evans, who was left in temporary charge of the federation after the new board took the reins of ASA in September last year.

Evans said on Friday it was encouraging that there were so many candidates who believed they stood a realistic chance of leading the embattled federation.

"I hope open elections will bring stability to the sport afterwards," he said.

The race to fill the two posts had already seen one casualty after ASA athletes' chair and former sprinter Geraldine Pillay withdrew shortly after the list of nominees was released to the provinces and associate members.

An unprecedented number of nominees were submitted, with nine candidates for president, and 10 for vice president initially put forward. Elections for the vice-president position was set to commence shortly.