Ban threat lifted as governing body backflips

SWIMMERS around the world are breathing a little easier now after an Australian-led protest forced the sport’s world governing body into making an astonishing backflip.

FINA has chucked in the towel and removed their outrageous threat to ban swimmers from competing at the Olympics and world championships if they participate in a breakaway league.

The landmark decision means high-performance swimmers who have been surviving on less than minimum wage will finally get the chance to earn a bigger slice of the enormous fortunes on offer by being allowed to compete in professional leagues without fear of punishment.

“This is a real turning point for swimming,” Australia’s golden girl Cate Campbell said.

“It took swimmers to get together and unify and have one voice but we are actually quite powerful when we do stick together and it’s really shown what we can do when we stand up for our rights.”

Campbell was at the forefront of the mutiny after she became one of the first of the sport’s global superstars to speak out against FINA in an exclusive interview with News Corp last year.

FINA held a global conference with national federations yesterday where it announced it was lifting the threat of the ban and introducing a new competition of their own with unprecedented prize money for competitors.