The buck stops!
Olympic sports fret over lost Games income
Lausanne, April 2: 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 Committee (IOC).
“The situation is tense and very gloomy. An assessment will be made, but clearly some posts are under threat,” said an official of a major international federation.
The 28 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 2021 could lead to a freeze of their payment.
The five additions to the Tokyo Games programme karate, surfing, skateboarding, climbing and baseball/softball — are not eligible.
The Olympic payout totalled $520 million after the Rio Games, four years ago.
The federations receive money on a sliding scale determined by their audience and size.
The three largest (athletics, swimming and gymnastics) can expect approximately $40 million.
For the second tier, made up of cycling, basketball, volleyball, football and tennis, the sum is $25 million.
For group three, which contains eight sports, including boxing, rowing, judo and table tennis, it is $17 million.
The nine sports in the next level (including sailing, canoing and fencing) receive $12 million.
For the three in the last category (rugby, golf, modern pentathlon) the payout is $7 million.
The international swimming federation will have to do the same for its World Championships scheduled next summer in Japan, when they would probably clash with the Tokyo Games.