Lausanne, Switzerland, April 27, 2020: The International Olympic Committee’s funding arm Olympic Solidarity has increased the budget allocated to National Olympic Committees for participation in the Olympic Games from 46.7 million USD to 57 million USD.
The 10.3 million USD increase has been made due to the additional NOC costs incurred by the postponement of Tokyo 2020 to next year and is categorized in the “IOC Subsidies for Participation in the Olympic Games” programme.
There are 206 NOCs in the five Olympic continents and they must apply to the IOC Olympic Solidarity for a share of this additional funding.
The subsidies cover the travel expenses and accommodation costs incurred prior to the Games and, during the Games, contribute to the travel expenses for athletes, team officials and NOC officials; and cover NOCs’ Games-related operational expenses.
*The decision to increase the Olympic Solidarity budget dedicated to NOCs’ participation in the Olympic Games follows the confirmation of the supplementary budget of USD 15m needed to extend to 2021 the Olympic Solidarity athlete programmes, which cover 1,600 athletes from 185 NOCs.
*The preparation of the new Olympic Solidarity 2021-2024 plan, which will take into account the NOCs’ needs in this new context, is currently ongoing, and will be announced by the end of 2020.
*In addition to facing additional costs, NOCs could also see their election cycle affected by the postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – most NOCs usually hold their regular elections in the year following the Games of the Olympiad.
The IOC has decided to adopt a flexible approach and will let the NOCs decide, subject to their respective statutes, either to follow the four-year term of office or to follow the Olympic Games cycle and hold their elections after the Olympic Games in 2021, under certain conditions.
In this case, the IOC, on an exceptional basis, will consent to an extension of the initial term of office beyond four years.
Source: www.olympic.org