Ireland was name as one of the 11 European member federations that received high commendation from the IAAF for competing in all seven IAAF World Athletics Competitions in 2006. The 11 are all round true athletics nations and include: Belarus, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain Christian Milz, the Director General of European Athletics, said "It is a great honour for these 11 countries to be singled out by the IAAF in this manner and they are great ambassadors for European Athletics. The fact that there were only eight other countries who achieved this great feat throughout the world of over 200 nations really shows how central the development of european athletics is to world athletics." Brendan Hackett, CEO of Athletics Ireland, added "It is a great honour for the Athletics Association of Ireland to be commended by the IAAF. I would like to congratulate our athletes, coaches, volunteers and team managers for their invaluable contribution. Throughout the last year these people have provided us with some memorable and magical moments that have resulted in the Athletics Ireland being recognised by the IAAF. This accolade also puts Ireland in the top 20 nations in the world contributing to the central development of athletics, which everyone in the athletics communtiy in Ireland can be proud." The 2006 World Athletics Competitions were: 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships, 10-12 March 2006 - Moscow (Russia) 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, 1-2 April 2006 - Fukuoka (Japan) 22nd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, 13-14 May 2006 - La Coruña (Spain) 11th IAAF World Junior Championships, 15-20 August 2006 - Beijing (China) 4th IAAF World Athletics Final, 9-10 September 2006 - Stuttgart (Germany) 10th IAAF World Cup, 16-17 September 2006 - Athens (Greece) 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships, 8 October 2006 - Debrecen (Hungary)