Governing Bodies
CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK: OLYMPICS HAVE A $1.2 BILLION RESERVE FUND FOR CANCELLED GAMES
As the International Olympic Committee looks ahead to the Summer Games with trepidation, it does have something that could cushion the blow in case of cancellation: a US$897 million (S$1.2 billion) reserve fund to help finance global sports.
It’s an improbable scenario, but one drawing more consideration at the coronavirus continues to spread around the world. A number of global sporting events and Olympic qualifiers have been cancelled, and many are now wondering how the outbreak might effect the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, scheduled to start at the end of July.
The fund was established as a backstop for international sports federations that rely on the IOC to balance their budgets, said Mr Dick Pound, the organisation’s longest-serving member. That’s not soccer or basketball, but smaller sports like judo, volleyball and water polo.
Part of the IOC’s broader risk management strategy, the fund was established in 2001 with US$105 million. It had grown to US$422 million by 2008.
“It’s a significant number, and would keep all the balls in the air if we actually missed a games,” Mr Pound said in an interview.
CASES SURGE
Coronavirus cases have surged to more than 80,000 worldwide, with new hot spots in Italy, South Korea and Iran in addition to the epicentre in China.
The World Health Organisation has held off on declaring a global pandemic, but stock prices have plunged and bond yields have soared as investors worry about a further spread.
For now, the Olympic movement is moving forward with its plans for Tokyo. The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee has suggested a limit on all non-essential travel to China, Hong Kong and Singapore, but has informed its teams to continue training and preparing as planned.
On Tuesday, the committee sent an updated e-mail to its teams advising them on the latest virus fallout, including event cancellations in both Italy and Iran and strict travel
We don’t yet know the full impact of the new developments on Team USA athletes and staff,” the committee said in the memo.
Japanese politicians have also said there are no plans to move or cancel the games.
“The preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 continue as planned,” the IOC said in a statement.
“Countermeasures against infectious diseases constitute an important part of Tokyo 2020’s plans to host a safe and secure games.”
The committee said it has full confidence that the authorities, “in particular in Japan and China, will take all the necessary measures to address the situation.”
The IOC made US$5.7 billion in its last four-year Olympic cycle, which included the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Of that total, 73 per cent came from broadcast rights and 18 per cent from top-level sponsors.
That money goes in part toward mounting the Olympic Games, and in part to national and international governing bodies to help fund athletes around the world.
For the Summer Games in Rio, for example, the IOC distributed US$540 million to international federations and another US$540 million to national Olympic committees.
The reserve fund is just part of the IOC’s risk management stores. The organisation also has US$647 million in assets set aside from TV money, in case it needs to refund parts of those contracts; US$261 million to cover deficits in its main sponsorship programme; and US$447 million to help cover distribution to national Olympic bodies.
Mr Pound, who has been an IOC member since 1978 but isn’t involved in day-to-day management, said the organisation isn’t in any immediate rush to make a decision on the games.
He said late May, two months out from the opening ceremony, will likely be the point at which the entire Olympic movement needs to know if the games will be cancelled or postponed.
“This is the most dangerous threat to the Olympics other than a state of actual war,” Mr Pound said. “This is the new war scenario.”
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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