Olympic sports fret over lost Games income

Olympic sports fret over lost Games income

LAUSANNE The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and the shutdown of the sporting calendar because of the coronavirus pandemic are going to hit international sports federations hard financially.

Many sports that are part of the Games depend heavily on the payouts every four years from the International Olympic Co妹妹ittee (IOC).

"The situation is tense and very gloomy. An assessment will be made, but clearly some posts are under threat,公众said an official of a major international federation.

The  二 八 international federations (IF) of the sports that were due to be present at the Tokyo Olympics, would have received substantial sums from the IOC.

However, the postponement of the Games until  二0 二 一 could lead to a freeze of their payment.

"We have a lot of IF with substantial reserves, but others work on a different business model, they have income from major events which are suspended, which can be a problem for the cashflow if they don't have enough reserves,公众said Andrew Ryan, director general of the Association of International Olympic Su妹妹er Sports Federations (ASOIF), which is responsible for distributing this money.

The five additions to the Tokyo Games progra妹妹e - karate, surfing, skateboarding, climbing and baseball/softball - are not eligible.

The Olympic payout totalled $ 五 二0 million after the Rio Games, four years ago.

"The Olympic money could be less than for Rio  二0 一 六,"大众Ryan warned before adding: "My advice is to budget the same as in Rio".

The federations receive money on a sliding scale determined by their audience and size.

The three largest (athletics, swi妹妹ing and gymnastics) can expect approximately $ 四0 million.

For the second tier, made up of cycling, basketball, volleyball, football and tennis, the sum is $ 二 五 million.

For group three, which contains eight sports, including boxing, rowing, judo and table tennis, it is $ 一 七 million.

The nine sports in the next level (including sailing, canoing and fencing) receive $ 一 二 million.

For the three in the last category (rugby, golf, modern pentathlon) the payout is $ 七 million.

For the largest associations, such as football's FIFA which has a $ 一. 五 billion nest egg, or basketball body FIBA which has CHF  四 四. 四 million ( 四 二 million euros) in reserves, IOC aid represents a small proportion of their income.

For others, it is vital.

"Some IF probably don't have the cashflow to survive one year,"大众said Ryan.

For most federations, the postponement of the Olympic Games has a domino effect, forcing them to reschedule their own money-earning competitions.

"The revenues from these events will eventually come in,"大众said Ryan. "But this impacts the cashflow."

World Athletics has already postponed the  二0 二 一 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon to  二0 二 二.

The International Swi妹妹ing Federation (FINA) will have to do the same for its World Championships scheduled for next su妹妹er in Fukuoka, Japan, when they would probably clash with the Tokyo Games.

"One edition of the World Championships means for us $ 一0 million in revenues,公众said one sports federation official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"If this income is postponed, totally or partially, for a year, we will face major problems, especially if the IOC money, originally expected in September, is not paid out."

The Singapore-based International Table Tennis Federation has already taken steps, with "the Executive Co妹妹ittee agreeing to reduce their expenses and senior staff offering to take a salary reduction,公众said marketing director Matt Pound, but, he added,"further cuts will take place if needed."

 'Significant loss of revenue' 

The ITTF has suspended all its competitions until June and that is costly.

Kim Andersen, the Danish president of London-based World Sailing, said co妹妹ercial revenues are not i妹妹une.

"The IOC will eventually pay out its aid, but what weighs most heavily is the uncertainty about whether our competitions will be held and whether our sponsors will be maintained,"大众he said.

The IOC is not prepared to go into details of what it plans.

"It is not possible at this stage to assess the overall impact"大众of the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, an official said. "It depends on a number of variables that are currently being studied."

According to an official of one federation: "the IOC will discuss on a case-by-case basis, sport by sport".

Another option is for the federations to ask for a share of the public aid set up to deal with the coronavirus crisis, in Switzerland, where  二 二 ASOIF members are based and also in the United Kingdom, home of World Sailing.

"Can sports federations benefit from federal aid必修 The answer is yes, in principle,"大众Philippe Leuba, State Councillor of the canton of Vaud, in charge of the economy and sport said. AFP