29. Mai 2005  
Helsinki / Finland  
Artistic Gymnastics

FIG COUNCIL HELSINKI 2005

World Champs 2009 in the former 'Millenium Dome'
'The O 2'

The 5th FIG COUNCIL, which was held in Helsinki (FIN) May 27 - 28, finished and the F.I.F gave some
Official News
London has won the bid to host the 2009 World Championships in Artistic Gymnastics, the first major international gymnastics event to follow the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (CHN).
London’s bid, presented by the FIG Council member and British Gymnastics President Brian Stocks, was approved on Friday, 27 May 2005 at the FIG Council Meeting in Helsinki (FIN)....

The Official Bid Document distributed in Helsinki, is available to download by clicking here.

The 41st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in 2009 will be hosted at 'The O2' in London, formerly known as 'The Millennium Dome', providing a timely boost for London’s 2012 bid ahead of the International Olympic Committee’s decision on 6th July....

The new Code...next steps
For the time being, the Executive will focus on crucial issues, like the principles of the new Code of Points for Artistic gymnastics.
The next steps of the ongoing procedure are the joint meeting of both Men's and Women's Technical Committee which will be held in Debrecen (HUN) and Minsk (BLR in the coming weeks.
The final document will be on the desk of the Secretary General on August 31 at the latest. It will then be distributed for information to the Executive Committee members and to the 129 FIG Affiliated Federations.
The final decision rests with the Executive Committee, a decision that will be made October 10, 2005 at its meeting in Baku (AZE).

... more Official FIG News...:
>> The Council has elected Mr Rached Gharbi (TUN) President of the Disciplinary Commission and Mr Marc Schoenmaekers (BEL) and Paul Engelmann (SUI) as Members;

>> At the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cup Finals, any FIG Official Authorities Members on duty do not have the right to direct a team or to participate in other work which could be asked by any Federation or the organisers;

>> In the future, the text of the IOC Judges' Oath will be applied at FIG events. An Athletes' Oath has been created. Both texts will be read during the Opening Ceremony of world championships and world cup finals;
>> Inquiries for the difficulty scores are allowed, provided that they are made verbally immediately after the publication of the score. The inquiry must be confirmed in writing within a few minutes. Every inquiry must be examined by the Superior Jury and a final decision (which may not be appealed) must be taken at the very latest at the end of the rotation (or group) for the qualifying competitions, the all-around competitions and the team competition (final). The detailed procedure will be laid down in all the Code of Points;

>> In 2009, the minimum age for all gymnasts to participate at FIG events will 16 years old. There will be no change for the current Olympic Cycle;

>> In Acrobatic Gymnastics, the Council rejected the proposals to remove the combined exercise from the qualifications. Also rejected the re-introduction of static and tempo exercises in the finals;

>> The 26st Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships in 2009 will be held in St Petersburg (RUS);

>> Aerobic Gymnastics and Rhythmic Gymnastics will host their first Academies in the following order 2005 and 2006;

>> The next FIG Council in 2006 will be held in Asia. The Federation of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) is candidate;

>> 2006 will be the year of the 125th anniversary of the FIG. The official celebration will be held on October 29.
Offical FIG news
>> FIG published the Letter from the President, No. 30 from 2005-May-30.