If Sport Made New Year’s Resolutions

A New Year starts today, and it would be great if those running sports in Australia and around the world entered the New Year with a new approach.

Do Sports administrators make new Year’s Resolutions? If they did what would they be?

In today’s world most sports are doing it tough financially. Volunteers are hard to find, and then when you do find good ones, the demands of the world we live in means that their time is often restricted. Sponsorship is also becoming increasingly harder to come by. Even when you do find companies to come on board their contribution rarely makes a dent in the costs of running a club or a competition, as costs continually climb.

So maybe it is time, as we approach the end of this decade, that those at the top started consider ways of reducing costs in order to support the bottom.

Incredibly there are many Sporting Bodies who pay their Board members. That could be one simple way of ensuring a saving, by doing away with paid board members. By all means they can receive per diems when attending important meetings and their hotel costs are covered, but do they really need paying? Surely it should be an honour and privilege to have been elected? In fact before agreeing to stand for election you should have weighed up if you had the time to fulfil such a role. Surely being elected shows that their peers feel that they have something to offer that will ultimately improve their sport.

No longer should we tolerate Board members who delay representative team announcements simply because a family member was not selected. Something that has happened twice to our knowledge in recent times.

With National and International Boards why is there still the need for all Board members to fly in to attend either monthly or bi-monthly meetings? Technology is now used in most sports to make decisions on the field of play, so why is technology not used at Board level?

Surely video conferencing could be used and save money on airfares, accommodation and per diems? In some cases this would amount to tens of thousands of dollars a year.

If you are going to fly Board members across Australia or the World why are some being flown business class, and as rumour would have it some in First class? This is a bizarre situation where staff who work at these sporting bodies and who travel on work assignments travel in economy, as do the athletes who are the key component, but Board members fly up the front. Somewhere the priorities are wrong. In an ideal world the Board should be given an economy ticket, and should they wish to upgrade then they do so at their own cost. If there was an exception it could be the head of the Board. However it would set a great example if they too only accepted economy airfares.

It is understandable that there would be one or two times a year when Board members would need to all be in attendance, such as for an Annual General Meeting, but in this day and age with all of the communication tools available surely flying to every meeting is now no longer necessary?

As we have seen with FIFA and other lesser bodies things will not change unless those with the power, the votes, speak up and effect change by using their votes. Sadly many of those with the votes have aspirations to sit at the top table and enjoy those benefits, so rather than do what is best for their sport they sit on their hands. To encourage them to not utilise their votes those at the top table feed them scraps to buy that loyalty.

If there was one area where sport could win respect, and change for the better it is by reducing the expenditure at the top. If there was one area that sport could set an example to those trying to make ends meet at the bottom end, it is by cutting their coat according to their cloth.

This would be a move that could set a number of sports up for the next decade, if they have the courage to make such a decision. It would only take one to do it, and others would soon be forced to follow. The result would be only those with a true passion and care for the sport would remain at Board level. That surely has to be good for all sports?

Oh, one other thing that should be disbanded immediately are such antiquated positions as Honorary Presidents. As we saw with FIFA who made Joao Havelange honorary president of FIFA in 1998, it came back to haunt them, when various corruption issues surfaced. He had to resign his position in 2013. Not every one bestowed such an honour is corrupt, but they have all had their day. They have enjoyed the perks of office. One has to ask why they should continue to be a financial burden on the sport, and be flown to major events and accommodated at the game’s expense? Once again it is a cost that sport could easily eliminate and few would even notice. Just one less nose in the trough.