A sports tranche

Given the economic difficulties which the nation is experiencing this year, most sports federations are scratching their heads over where to find the money to enable athletes to attend international competitions and training camps. After the government forced all departments to tighten their belts some more, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine applied to the IOC for financial assistance in March 2014. A few days ago, a reply came: the IOC agreed to allocate 3.5 million hryvnias to support our athletes. What sports federations will get the money and how much each of them will receive, the NOC will decide jointly with the Ministry of Youth and Sports. According to Serhii Bubka, president of the NOC, besides financing the participation of our athletes in competitions and training camps, part of this sum will be spent on providing targeted assistance to those who are now experiencing hardship and supporting training of athletes through grants to national Olympic federations.

Our sports officials are grateful for this assistance, and the president of the NOC said that for their part, they were doing everything possible in order to enable athletes to participate in various competitions. “In the name of the Olympic family of Ukraine, I express my sincere gratitude to the IOC and its president Thomas Bach for their understanding and support. He appreciates the achievements of Ukrainian Olympians, is always interested in the situation in our country and wants to see a peaceful resolution of it. This is a clear example of the Olympic solidarity,” Bubka noted.

When asked about the financial situation and issues existing in our sports movement, the NOC had no comment for us. Its press office explained that all information had been posted on their site, and they had nothing more to say. The sports federations, though, frankly admit funding shortages. One of them posted a report on its website stating that the Ministry of Youth and Sports was refusing to fund their competition. Of course, it cited the need to save money as the reason. The ministry’s website posted a refutation immediately, and the report then disappeared from the federation’s website, too.

The Day asked head coach of Ukraine’s short track team Viktor Kharlamov about his view on international support’s importance for the Ukrainian sports.

“Only after they will have determined how much of the IOC assistance will go to each federation, we will be able to tell what will be distributed and how,” the coach noted, hinting that not all sport federations will get their share of the international tranche. “Given the situation in the country, we are short of money. We short trackers have it easier, though, as our season has already ended, but preparations for the competitions should continue. As for funding of our federation this year, tell me, please, when and who has allocated anything to our federation? I have no such information.”

In his turn, Minister of Youth and Sport Dmytro Bulatov stated at a meeting with representatives of national federations that his department was actively seeking additional sources of funding. It has even reduced costs of the ministry’s staff and some minor programs, saving 370 million hryvnias. At the same time, they are grateful to NGOs that support the national sport. For example, the NOC has given 600,000 hryvnias in assistance since the year’s start. According to Bulatov, the committee’s assistance allowed our biathlon athletes to take part in the World Cup in Slovenia, wrestlers in the European Championship in Finland, and pentathlon athletes in the World Cup event in Mexico. So, despite the hard times, our athletes continue to compete and win.