LEN, the governing body for 6 disciplines of aquatic sports in Europe, has announced that it has rescheduled its annual LEN Congress for Sunday, November 8, 2020 in Budapest, Hungary. The event was originally planned for May 10 in Budapest in conjunction with the original dates of the European Aquatics Championships, which have now been moved to 2021.
The LEN Congress will now be a standalone event.
The primary function of the event will be to elect the new LEN Bureau for the term 2020-2024 and to nominate candidates as continental members to the FINA Bureau for the term of 2021-2025.
Nominations are due 90 days before the Congress, which means August 10, 2020. LEN says they will continue to recognize existing nominations, and accept new ones.
LEN says that in the event that the global coronavirus pandemic continues to inhibit large in-person gatherings, or travel to such gatherings, that they maintain the right to hold a virtual Elective Congress or to postpone the Elective Congress again, possibly into 2021.
This means that current members of the LEN Bureau will remain in their positions for at least 7 months longer than initially anticipated, and the terms of the members of the next Bureau will be shortened.
This also means that Italy’s Paolo Barelli will remain as the president of LEN for another 7 months, along with other elected officials. Politically, this could be advantageous for Barelli, as the original dates of the LEN Congress would have come a week after news broke that Barelli, along with David Sparkes and Tamas Gyarfas, had been reported for financial irregularities in six-figure payments made to third-party companies.
