NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 24 – Just a few hours after world football governing body FIFA announced it would avail a relief fund to its member associations to cushion against the financial effects of the coronavirus, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also moved to avail an extra fund to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) after the postponement of the quadrennial games.
The IOC says it has increased the solidarity fund divided among all its 206 member Committees by a further Sh1.1bn (10.3mn USD) from 46.7mn USD to 57mn USD.
And the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) says that it will apply for the fund especially with most of the sportsmen lamenting of the heavy brunt the coronavirus pandemic has left on their earnings.
“We welcome the IOC’s consideration, it will go a long way to helping as far as preparations are concerned. We will have to apply for the fund,” said NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku.
He added; “This is the longest time we will have a team preparing for the Olympics. Normally, we have six to eight months preparations with teams. Definitely, the expenses will be more because now we have a longer time to prepare because the Olympics has been postponed.
“Of course, we will consider everyone but our priority will be on those who were already in program like the men and women’s rugby teams, boxers who already qualified as well as the women’s volleyball team,” Mutuku further told Capital Sport.
According to the IOC, the fund will be available to NOC’s who will submit formal applications.
“This additional budget of USD 10.3m will allow Olympic Solidarity to make available additional funds relating to exceptional Games-related costs incurred by NOCs due to the postponement of the Tokyo Games. These additional funds will be available to NOCs based on their application,” a statement from IOC read.
It added; “This decision will allow NOCs to sustain additional costs that might occur in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games, now to be staged in 2021.”
The IOC solidarity fund is usually awarded to all participating NOCs to help them prepare and participate in the Olympic Games, including qualification tournaments.
The IOC Subsidies for Participation in Olympic Games are managed by the Olympic Solidarity office in Lausanne in coordination with the Organising Committees of the respective Olympic Games, and are given in three phases:
-Before the Games: they cover the travel expenses and accommodation for one person per NOC to attend the meeting between the Chefs de Mission and the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) and help NOCs that will organise pre-Games training camps in the host country.
-During the Games: they contribute to travel expenses for a number of athletes, team officials and NOC officials, cover accommodation costs for a maximum of two rooms per NOC up to 20 nights per room, and cover Games-related expenses which are not already covered by other sources of funding.
-After the Games: they are paid to the NOCs to compensate their contribution to the success of the Games.
