A survey which was conducted by the so-called war room, made up of sports officials working alongside the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) to tackle issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
They have compiled a report showing the survey results with the tagline “Help us save our sporting federations”, which has been submitted to the department of sports‚ arts & culture.
Of the 76 sport-specific bodies that comprise Sascoc‚ 47 — or 61% — responded. A further two provincial sport confederations also replied.
Almost 90% of sports bodies believed the government was not doing enough for them during the Covid-19 pandemic. Asked if the national government was “doing enough to support and assist sports federations during this ongoing pandemic”‚ 89.8% replied no. All of the remainder said yes.
The ministry unlocked R150m in relief funding for individual sports people and artists‚ but organisations were not targeted.
Almost 43% of sports bodies said they wanted relief funding and another 34.7% said they would like “an earlier return to play than currently envisioned in the levels system”.
Almost 90% of sports bodies believed the government was not doing enough for them during the Covid-19 pandemic. Asked if the national government was “doing enough to support and assist sports federations during this ongoing pandemic”‚ 89.8% replied no. All of the remainder said yes.
The ministry unlocked R150m in relief funding for individual sports people and artists‚ but organisations were not targeted.
Other suggestions included government support with operational costs including salaries‚ with some pointing out that funding and support could be required in 2021 “to ensure continuity”.
Other proposals were that the department “double and expedite” annual allocations to federations and permit play without spectators and allow an earlier return to coaching.
The survey showed that the biggest income drivers were affiliation fees, followed by government and lottery funding‚ revenue from events and then sponsorships.
More than 61% of the sports bodies had full-time employees‚ with 53.1% employing one to 20 people. More than 63% had part-time employees‚ with 44.9% employing one to 20 people.
The report did not say which federations participated in the survey‚ but it is understood that many of them are Olympic codes.
The effect of those Cinderella codes grinding to a halt would be catastrophic for athletes hoping to get to the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.