Sascoc warns of closure if National Lottery pulls funds

THE head of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) has warned that the Olympic body faces closure within a year should the National Lottery cut funding.

Sasco chief executive Tubby Reddy said proposed policy changes at the distribution fund to consider it as a normal federation could be its death knell, as it would only be entitled to R5 million in funds per year.

Sascoc would also be subject to a 12-month “cooling-off ” period, where it would effectively only be able to claim R5m twice in a four-year Olympic cycle.

“That is a bit of a tough one, there is no logic for this... it is a huge problem, we probably receive in the region of R60 and R70m a year,” Reddy said.

Without the extra funding, Sascoc would not be able to deliver on its mandate of preparing and delivering teams to multi-coded international events such as the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, he added.

It is also responsible for promoting and developing high-performance sport as well as providing financial and coaching aid.

“You won’t be able to send teams, you won’t be able to fund your athletes, Operation Excellence, so it becomes a problem,” Reddy said.

Last year, the cash-strapped Olympic body received a R70m bailout from the National Lotteries Committee a month ahead of Rio 2016.

Reddy said Sascoc were in talks with the committee, but a failure to come to an agreement could prove detrimental.

“I know the leadership is busy negotiating at a higher level so hopefully we can turn it around,” he said.

“As it stands we can keep our doors open till the end of the financial year, which is next year March.” – Mercury Correspondent