World Athletics president Lord Coe has warned that "we have to police the calendar" of track and field after sprinting great Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track (GST) competition filed for bankruptcy.
Last week, four-time Olympic champion Johnson said that despite "significant challenges... I refuse to give up on the mission" of the failed project, with millions of pounds being owed to creditors, which include top athletes.
However, when asked whether World Athletics could prevent GST from returning, Coe said: "I don't want to get into the embers of this... but we do create the calendar".
"We have to make sure that when there are fresh events that they come to the table with the kind of credentials and assets that I've talked about.
"There's a responsibility to do that, and I think probably going forward, that is something we will look at in greater depth.
"Over the next few years, there are going to be lots of different and new things. And I welcome that, but it has to be suffused in a realistic proposition that you have stuff that is fireproof, it's got to be sustainable."
Organisers of Grand Slam Track (GST) have said the competition ran into trouble after key investors pulled out earlier this year. They confirmed the series is now using the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the United States, which allows a company to reorganise its finances while continuing to operate.
GST said the move is aimed at stabilising its finances, cutting costs and creating a more sustainable business for the future.
The competition launched earlier this year with meetings in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia. However, poor ticket sales and cashflow problems meant a planned fourth event in Los Angeles in June was cancelled.
Court documents filed in the US show several top athletes are owed significant sums of money. Scottish runner Josh Kerr is listed as being owed £162,000, while American stars Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas are owed £265,000 and £186,000 respectively.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the situation shows why new competitions must be carefully managed. While he welcomed innovation and new investment in athletics, he stressed that events must have strong and reliable financial plans to protect athletes.
Coe said organisers cannot rely on hope or last-minute fixes and must be fully prepared, with solid backup plans in place. He warned that when events fail financially, athletes are often the ones most at risk of losing out.
He was speaking ahead of the inaugural Ultimate Championships, a new World Athletics event that will take place in Budapest next year. The biennial competition will offer a total prize fund of more than £7.4m, with individual winners set to earn over £111,000.
Coe said work is already under way to ensure the event is delivered properly and that athletes are not let down.
