Commentary by By John Leonard
Do you know what the FINA (Federation Internationale De Natation) annual or quadrennial budget is?
Neither do I. Nor does anyone else except for (perhaps) the FINA Executive. Maybe no one knows except FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu. Or he might share that information with his 80 plus year old President. Or he might not.
But I do know this. Once every four years, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) gives FINA 45 MILLION DOLLARS. The IOC does that because FINA is one of the top three federations in terms of television views at the Olympic Games.
WHY do those public folk watch the Olympic Games? Is it to see Cornel Marculescu and his Bureau sitting on their Thrones? I think not. This will come as a surprise to the FINA Bureau, but people tune in to watch…(wait for it..) THE ATHLETES!
Yes, Those Children. A famous quote from FINA’s Executive Director, Cornel Marculescu, ”FINA is like a family. We have a mother, a father and the athletes are the children, seen, but not heard.” And yet, the FINA “children” are more like slaves. They bring in 45 Million dollars to the FINA Treasury (which is only a tiny portion of the total FINA budget, we would guess from figures bandied about for “rights” to the World Championships…and oh yes, remember, FINA doesn’t let anyone see its REAL FINANCES), yet they receive CRUMBS in return in terms of prize money dribbled out over a four year period. And the coaches, well, they have never even ASKED to be included in the Royal Largesse. Perhaps that is their own fault, but without coaches, there is precious little elite swimming in the world. Coaches HAVE NEVER ASKED because there is no group less “self-serving” in the world of sports than swimming coaches. But there is zero reason that coaches should be helping fill FINA wallets and fine wining and dining, with nothing coming to help the coach feed his family.
It is time for our Professional athletes to end their “SLAVE DAYS”.
Take a page from Golf and form a “Swimmers Union” (call me if you need help…but my guess is you don’t).
OWN YOUR OWN FUTURE with a TOUR where you own a part of the equity…like golf pros. The 45 Million dollars, and probably much more, should be YOURS, not to seat the likes of the FINA Bureau on THRONES at your world championship.
Photo Courtesy: Patrick B. Kraemer
(I do love this photo. It tells the entire story…. That’s Cornel on the left and an attentive fan from Canada on the right. Some women do love a man with a Throne….especially when they also get their own. )
You are the show, not the blazers who show up ten minutes after the start of the meet and leave for dinner before the last event of the evening.
ATHLETE CENTERED, COACH DIRECTED and Administratively Supported.
That’s the way to conduct international sport. The exact reverse is what FINA provides now. Administrators are rewarded and glorified (and, enriched), athletes are a “necessary annoyance” without any say and coaches having zero status in the entire organization.
Money earned on Athletes Backs is Money that Should Be in Athletes Pockets and not in the wallets of those who select to sit on Thrones.
WE ALL DESERVE BETTER.
John Leonard
Before we start blaming FINA of slavery, why don’t we start by resolving the NCAA slavery first?
Anonymous — You seem to miss the point a bit. With FINA the monies are produced by efforts of swimmers (and coaches) and enjoyed by folks that have done little to nothing to produce it. In the NCAA swimming is supported by the universities and their revenue sports. For example, the travel expenses for qualifiers to NCAA come not out of funds produced by the swimming competition but out of the television contract for the NCAA Basketball tournament, with the schools paying for relay only athetes themselves. Swimming at the college level does not financially support itself, much less produce the profit and opportunity for largesse that FINA swallows up.
Anonymous — You seem to miss the point a bit. With FINA the monies are produced by efforts of swimmers (and coaches) and enjoyed by folks that have done little to nothing to produce it. In the NCAA swimming is supported by the universities and their revenue sports. For example, the travel expenses for qualifiers to NCAA come not out of funds produced by the swimming competition but out of the television contract for the NCAA Basketball tournament, with the schools paying for relay only athetes themselves. Swimming at the college level does not financially support itself, much less produce the profit and opportunity for largesse that FINA swallows up. Not that there aren’t problems with NCAA administration; it is just that swimming doesn’t produce a big pot of money funneled off to those folks.
Dunc1952 You seem to miss Anonymous’ point a bit. The comment said NCAA, not NCAA swimming. But, since this is Swimming World, I doubt we will have much influence on the NCAA.
Athlete Centered (AGREED!), Administratively Supported (AGREED!), Coach Directed (A RECIPE FOR DISASTER!). Imagine an Olympics where each swimmer’s coach has individual negotiations with NBC for broadcast rights to show their swimmers. Do they black out lanes if the coach and broadcaster don’t come to terms? And how many coaches have the desire to engage in such things?
There is a real need for NGB’s and WGB’s to deal with the outside world so swimmers can swim, coaches can coach and we can watch the greatest sport. The reform needs to come in true leadership at the GB level. Fly coach not first, sit in the stands not thrones, stay with the athletes not in 5-star resorts, put revenues back into swimming mot the pockets of cronies.