Editorial – Jamaica Observer
Paying Olympians is lengthy overdue
World Athletics’ announcement on Wednesday that it’ll develop into the primary worldwide federation to award prize cash at an Olympic Video games, starting at this yr’s staging in Paris, France, has been welcomed by the athletics group.
In keeping with World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe, gold medal winners in every of the 48 athletics occasions in Paris will obtain US$50,000.
Prize cash, Lord Coe identified, might be prolonged to the winners of silver and bronze medals on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Explaining that the choice mirrored the efforts of monitor and subject athletes “which are a magnet for billions of eyeballs” to TV protection of the Olympics, Lord Coe mentioned on Wednesday: “I don’t imagine that is remotely at variance with the idea that the Worldwide Olympic Committee typically talks about, which is recognising the efforts that our opponents make for the general success of the Video games.”
We aren’t stunned by the overall response to what’s actually a gesture from World Athletics to athletes, as a result of that’s actually what it’s when in comparison with what women and men engaged in different sports activities are paid.
We acknowledge the custom that the Olympics is in regards to the honour of representing your nation, the valour of competitors, and the Video games’ nice good thing about selling an trade of cultures. Nevertheless, we’re all too conversant in the various tales of athletes who, after making huge sacrifice, have little to indicate, when it comes to monetary reward, and are denied the dignity of a good life.
That’s one motive that we now see athletes, effectively no less than the higher ones, being paid by sponsors, ensuing within the Olympic custom of newbie competitors consigned to historical past. So it was solely pure for World Athletics to alter with the instances.
The actual fact is that sport generates tens of trillions of {dollars} worldwide. The homeowners of groups and people who promote tv broadcast rights rake in enormous parts of that pie. So too do venues that host competitions, sports activities items producers, and firms that provide experience in sports activities advertising and marketing.
Forbes Journal report final yr telling us that the world’s 50 most dear sports activities groups are value a mixed US$256 billion — a median of US$5.12 billion — 15 per cent greater than in 2022.
Statista, the data-gathering on-line platform, exhibits that as of December 2022, Portuguese footballer Mr Cristiano Ronaldo had the very best wage of all soccer gamers worldwide — an estimated US$200 million a yr.
Mr Lionel Messi, the Argentine soccer World Cup champion, earned round US$65 million a yr, in addition to US$55 million in off-field earnings.
Salaries within the American NFL, the English Premier League, and different prime sports activities leagues are enormous by any normal. Additionally, spin-off income from these leagues is unfold far and large.
Observe and subject, although, has by no means offered that degree of incomes for athletes, whatever the curiosity generated globally by the Olympics and World Championships.
Lord Coe is subsequently appropriate in describing this resolution as “a pivotal second for the game of athletics as an entire”.
