Problems mounting for embattled Sascoc

After taking a relentless beating in recent years, Sascoc seems to have responded to a persistent public outcry, but their decision to react might have come too late.

The Olympic body has stood firm in its policy to leave “passengers” at home in an attempt to focus on potential medal contenders at major multi-sport Games in recent years.

Their refusal to budge, along with a general failure throughout the various codes to ensure criteria was understood, resulted in threats of legal action being taken by various athletes who were left out of teams over the last two Olympic cycles.

Though most of those threats came to nothing, and only one athlete won a legal battle for inclusion, the controversy around criteria has done little but shatter the public image of the embattled high-performance body.

Sascoc is often criticised for its policies and decisions, but in this scenario, the federations should take at least as much blame, if not more.

In some codes, administrators agreed to radical, senseless decisions without much consideration, and athletes and teams were left stranded at home while their compatriots in other codes carried the national flag.

This created a damaging knock-on effect with sponsors losing interest and some sports missing out on a rare opportunity to showcase and promote themselves at the highest level, which resulted in stunted development.

While athletes and teams improved at the top end of their respective codes due to strict criteria, the lack of depth was also apparent.

It can be argued that the Olympics, the pinnacle of elite sport for many codes, is no place for passengers, but Sascoc was so besotted with its policy that events which were traditionally used as a platform to launch Olympic campaigns were no longer considered stepping stones.

The criteria for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was a prime example, with the governing body insisting athletes needed to be ranked in the top five of their disciplines to be considered for selection.

For marathon runners, as another example, this meant they either needed to be in shape to beat the world’s best or they were left at home.

This week, however, Sascoc changed its tune and confirmed athletes ranked in the top 10 in the Commonwealth would qualify for next year’s Games in the Gold Coast.

It’s a good move, which should earn them some relief from their public beating, but the decision may have come a moment after the ticking time bomb exploded.

It was also revealed this week that Sascoc’s funding from the National Lotteries Commission would be limited to local competitions and camps, which could hammer the final nail into the organisation’s coffin.

With no money for athletes or teams competing overseas, both in major competitions and in the build-up, Sascoc is going to find it extremely difficult to fulfil its mandate.

And if the organisation cannot contribute substantially to the delivery of teams to major events, it may as well not exist.

Perhaps they will be able to lobby for a change to the Lotteries Act, but with a struggling economy trying to combat crucial aspects of social development, it’s unlikely.

The only option left for Sascoc to save its skin, it would seem, is for corporates to fill the gap in funding, which would require an annual injection of at least R60 million.

Considering how long it took the Olympic body to try and fix its public image by pulling back the whip, any corporate able to invest that sort of money would be reluctant at best.

Sascoc can find placards and start picketing, but unless it begins begging for assistance from somewhere soon, and finds a saviour, their latest move may have missed the mark.

You can’t stop a bomb after it explodes.