World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has said the organisation is holding discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over securing its share of revenues expected from the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Several International Federations (IFs) are set to request an early payment of sums they expected to receive from the IOC from the Games, after the postponement created cash-flow challenges.
World Athletics are one of three IFs in the top group for revenue distribution, along with the International Swimming Federation and the International Gymnastics Federation
Each are expected to receive around $40 million (£32 million/€36 million) from the IOC from revenue secured from Tokyo 2020.
Coe told the Financial Times that the governing body had begun negotiations with the IOC to seek part of the revenue.
“Like many Olympic sports, we are very grateful but also reliant on the share of the IOC broadcast revenues,” Coe said.
“We work in that four-year business cycle and not having those revenues in the year that we were planning means that we have to be very careful.”
The postponement of Tokyo 2020 may delay payments to IFs, with the International Cycling Union admitting last month it was anticipating “both a possible postponement to 2021 of payment of Olympic revenues initially expected in the second semester of 2020, and a probable reduction of the sum paid to the IFs”.
The International Handball Federation has told the IOC that it can get by without extra financial assistance and suggested that it target available support at other bodies which may be in more need.
