The World Cross Country Championships should be a boost to athletics in the country, but Athletics South Africa isn’t taking advantage of the event, writes Julian Drew
THE biggest athletics event ever staged in South Africa will take place in Stellenbosch next Saturday amid growing concerns that Athletics South Africa (ASA) has failed to capitalise on the immense boost the 24th International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) World Cross Country Championships could provide for local athletics .
When the championships were awarded to South Africa in June 1994 there were great hopes that the event would be a high-profile showcase for South African athletics which would put local middle-distance running on the map. But since the official launch in Cape Town last April nothing has been heard from ASA.
While the event is being organised by the executive committee of a specially appointed local organising committee (LOC) which contains a large representation from ASA, it is still being staged on behalf of the IAAF under the auspices of ASA. It is thus alarming that ASA has shown so little interest in such a prestigious occasion.
But the championships are expected to proceed smoothly and should break even from a financial point of view. That is a tribute to the dedication of the LOC which has had to organise them under unprecedented circumstances.
One of the main problems it encountered relates to the way the IAAF markets its events. The IAAF lumps all its world championship events into a single package over a four-year period which it calls the World Athletic Series. It then sells the rights to this series under specific business categories which creates a set of official sponsors who have exclusive rights to all the IAAF’s events for four years.
Unfortunately for the LOC the last World Athletic Series came to an end in 1995 and when the packages came up for renewal only two of the previous 12 companies re-signed.
This not only meant a decrease in international revenue, it also meant the LOC was unable to seek local sponsors because it did not know which business categories it could source until the IAAF had completed its own sponsorship deals. Local sponsors are not allowed in the same business categories as the IAAF’s official sponsors.
Snickers, which has been the title sponsor to the world cross country championships for the past three years, is one of the companies that didn’t renew its contract and the LOC was only given permission three weeks ago to source a local title sponsor after the IAAF and its marketing company, ISL, failed to find one.
When the LOC was finally given the go-ahead by the IAAF late in February to begin looking for other local sponsors it was then hampered by ASA which tried to discourage it from approaching ASA’s own sponsors. Pressure was applied, however, and the LOC, through the former mayor of Cape Town, Sol Kreiner, managed to sign up 11 local sponsors and a title sponsor which do in fact include some of ASA’s sponsors.
“It was a very difficult task which was only achieved by heavy lobbying because we didn’t really have a full rights package to offer. The major benefit to the sponsors is physical exposure at the event because there are no local television rights,” said LOC financial manager Gareth Griffiths. Local television coverage will be provided by M-Net but it negotiated its own deal with the IAAF last year and international TV rights are still being negotiated by the IAAF. Unconfirmed reports indicate that two companies pulled out when it became clear there were no television rights and it has been reliably reported that certain product categories are still unavailable to the LOC even though the IAAF has not signed anyone up in those categories.
Although ASA played no role in securing the sponsors it has now taken over Friday’s press launch for the title sponsor which has caused considerable resentment in the LOC. “There’s a feeling that ASA is happy to draw credit when it’s available but walks away when there are problems,” said one member of the LOC who didn’t want to be named.
On the financial front the LOC is trying to contain the total cost of the championships to R 2,6-million. R 500 000 of that is covered by a grant in aid from the IAAF which was, according to an informed source, just increased by $50 000 because of the absence of television rights. The rest must come from sponsors. But while the event itself will break even, the Western Cape economy should benefit by about R30-million from the seven days of 1 500 hotel bed nights the championships will generate.
Another event taking place next weekend in conjunction with the championships is an IAAF Council Meeting which will play host to the whole hierarchy of the organisation. The LOC was unexpectedly burdened with the cost of organising this meeting in January after ASA president, Leonard Chuene, who had offered to host it at last December’s IAAF Council Meeting in Gothenburg, suddenly produced the contract. That also caused friction because it was felt that as ASA was going to get the accolades for hosting the meeting, it should fund it. “Fortunately the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid Company were persuaded to pay the cost of the council meeting (roughly R300 000) in return for access to the five IOC members who will attend it,” said LOC vice president Joel Ramathlape.
Quite why ASA has behaved the way it has and squandered its best opportunity to promote both itself to the rest of the world and the sport to this country is not clear as the organisation’s chief executive officer, Bernard Rose failed to return any calls. “There is a lack of focus and a lack of planning within ASA at present,” said one high ranking ASA official who wished to remain anonymous. “It survives purely on crisis management.”