FINA Needs to “Rethink” Finances, Aussie Official says

SYDNEY, January 20. IT needed to be said and someone finally said it.

Surprisingly, that someone was Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, who today urged FINA, swimming's world governing body, to change its financial arrangements for World Championships, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Coates said the current arrangements make it hard for the host cities to run at a profit, with most of it going to FINA.

"One would expect now that FINA, the international body that runs swimming, would need to reflect on some of the income sharing arrangements between it as the international federation and the organising committees," Coates said.

"It is my understanding that virtually all of the international sponsorship goes to FINA, and similarly the television monies largely go to the international federation and the local organising committee is very much dependent on some local sponsorship and sales of ticketed seats."

Coates' comments come after Montreal was stripped of this year's championships due to severe financial difficulties. The Montreal organizing committee had made it known for some time that it was having financial problems and even made an unsuccessful appeal to the Canadian government to bail it out.

Melbourne will host the 2007 World Championships, but Coates said the funding arrangements with FINA stopped Sydney making a bid for that meet.

"This was one of the reasons why the NSW government didn't proceed with a bid for the next swimming championships and the Victorians have," he said.

"So there's probably got to be some re-thinking on those arrangements."

It is believed that FINA will choose either Athens, Berlin or Munich as the replacement host. Both the USA and Australia have ruled out the possibility of either country hosting the meet.

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