Representatives of Olympic sports activities organizations are calling for pressing discussions with the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) relating to potential reductions of their income shares and medal occasions on the 2028 Los Angeles Video games.
This concern arises from the latest addition of cricket and different new sports activities to the Olympic program.
In a call made final month, the IOC accredited the inclusion of cricket, baseball/softball, flag soccer, lacrosse, and squash for the 2028 Olympics whereas retaining boxing, fashionable pentathlon, and weightlifting, which had beforehand confronted unsure statuses.
ASOIF expressed reservations concerning the growth of the sports activities program.
The Affiliation of Summer season Olympic Worldwide Federations (ASOIF), an umbrella group representing present Summer season Video games sports activities, expressed reservations concerning the growth of the sports activities program. ASOIF members collectively obtained $540 million in IOC-allocated funding at every of the previous two Olympics.
Most Olympic sports activities obtained between $13 million and $17.3 million from the Tokyo Video games in 2021, which had been delayed as a result of pandemic. For some sports activities, this funding accounted for roughly half of their whole revenue over a four-year interval.
The addition of 4 group sports activities in 2028 is anticipated to exceed the IOC’s most well-liked restrict of 10,500 athletes at a Summer season Video games. That is more likely to result in strain on core Olympic sports activities to cut back their athlete quotas and even the variety of medal occasions. The IOC goals to finalize the quotas by early 2025.
Following a gathering in Lausanne, Switzerland, ASOIF’s ruling council introduced its intention “to lift these pressing issues with the IOC management.” The council contains presidents from top-tier Olympic sports activities reminiscent of World Athletics, the Worldwide Gymnastics Federation, and World Aquatics.
IOC’s whole income of $7.6 billion generated between 2017 and 2021
Observe and subject obtained $38.5 million in funding after the Tokyo Video games, whereas gymnastics and swimming every obtained roughly $31.4 million from the IOC’s whole income of $7.6 billion generated from broadcasters and sponsors between 2017 and 2021. The addition of cricket is anticipated to considerably increase the IOC’s broadcast deal in India, doubtlessly by no less than $100 million.
Key problems with concern for Olympic sports activities embody “income sharing, athlete quotas, Olympic qualification techniques, and video games optimization,” as highlighted by ASOIF president Francesco Ricci Bitti. “Optimization” refers back to the ongoing efforts to streamline prices and providers to allow organizers to handle expenditures successfully.
ASOIF additionally cautioned its members about potential involvement in Russia’s deliberate World Friendship Video games, set to happen shortly after the 2024 Paris Olympics. Moscow and Yekaterinburg are scheduled to host these video games in September.
The Russian Olympic Committee stays suspended by the IOC. Nevertheless, particular person athletes should still be invited to compete as impartial athletes in worldwide occasions in the event that they meet sure standards, reminiscent of not publicly supporting the battle in Ukraine and having no ties to army or state safety businesses. The participation of athletes in such occasions has raised considerations inside the sports activities neighborhood.
