section_path: Organizations
section_name: Organizations
paragraph_text: Organizations
  
  In 1912, the formation of the international governing body for athletics, the International Amateur Athletics Federation, began. In recognition of the movement of the sport from amateurism towards professionalism that began in the late 1970s, the word amateur was dropped from the name, and the organization was rebranded as the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2001. In late 2019, another rebranding began, with World Athletics as the new title of the governing body.
  
  World Athletics has 215 member nations and territories, which are divided into six continental areas (or area associations). The six association areas are for Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, North and Central America and Caribbean and South America. The sports within athletics do not have their own independent governing bodies at either international or continental level; instead, all fall under the athletics authorities.
  
  National level athletics organisations are responsible for the regulation of the sport within their respective countries and most major competitions have some form of permit or approval from their national body.