LONDON (AP):

The elite Golden League series could be doubled to 12 meetings next year, taking the lucrative athletics circuit outside Europe with possible events in the United States, the Middle East and China.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is considering the expanded format for 2010, which could include meets in Eugene (Oregon), Beijing, and Doha (Qatar). European meets in London, Lausanne (Switzerland) and Stockholm (Sweden), could also join the list.

"The actual final composition of the new tour will not be known until the summer at the earliest, once negotiations have revealed who wants to be a part of it," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told The Associated Press yesterday.

The IAAF advisory board, headed by IAAF president Lamine Diack, will meet in the first week of February to review proposals for private funding of the circuit.

The IAAF Council, the federation's decision-making body, will meet in Berlin on March 21-22 to consider final approval for the project.

Decision in summer

The IAAF would negotiate over the summer with individual meets to decide which ones would be part of the new circuit. There is no guarantee that meets in the current Golden League would be part of the new series.

The Golden League has meets in Berlin, Brussels (Belgium), Oslo (Norway), Paris, Rome and Zurich (Switzerland). The series offers a US$1 million jackpot for athletes who win their designated event at all six meets.

Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo claimed the entire prize last year by sweeping the women's 800-metre races.

Davies said the IAAF wants to add at least four meets outside Europe.

"The IAAF does not want to keep the Golden League as an exclusively European club," he said.

The insidetherings website reported that three major groups, including an unidentified European media company, are in discussions with the IAAF about bankrolling the new circuit.

The IAAF is trying to boost the sport's popularity and reach around the world. In the United States, the sport has suffered from doping scandals and a lack of mainstream support and television coverage.

However, the annual Prefontaine Classic in Eugene attracts many of the top stars and would be a top contender for Golden League status.

Possible venues

Beijing's 'Bird's Nest' stadium, which hosted the athletics events at the 2008 Olympics, would likely be considered as a venue for an Asian meet. Shanghai could also be in the running.

In the Gulf, Doha would be a leading choice since it already hosts an annual Super Grand Prix meet.

In Europe, London stages a high-profile annual meet at Crystal Palace, which was expanded last year into a rare two-day competition.

Lausanne hosts the Athletissima meet. If it is added to the new Golden League, that could lead to uncertainty over the series' most prestigious meet, the Weltklasse in Zurich.

The Weltklasse is known as the 'one-day Olympics' and has been the scene of 24 world records since the inaugural event in 1928.

Although Weltklasse director Patrick Magyar said Lausanne deserved to be part of an expanded series, having two Golden League meets in Switzerland would seem unlikely.

"I am confident that Weltklasse Zurich will maintain its place in a series with the best meetings of the world," Magyar said.

Promotion of meets

Wilfried Meert, organiser of Brussels' Van Damme meet, raised questions about the expansion plans.

"If you see how little television time major broadcasters give to athletics for these meets, if you have six now, what will they do with 12, including four on other continents in different time zones?" Meert said. "That is the key question. The weak point of the Golden League is that it is not shown enough on the major networks."