27.8.2021 09:45
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The organizers of the World Championships in white water canoeing were supposed to finalize preparations three weeks before the start of the Čunov event, but they still have to solve especially problems with financing. The outages, which can be largely caused by a coronavirus pandemic, are so serious that the championship may even be canceled.
The organization of the World Championships is a challenge in itself, when the Slovaks applied for the Water Solomon Championship five years ago, they wanted to follow up on the successful championships in 2011.
“Whenever we try to organize such a big global event, we want to bring something specific to our sport with high added value, which participants will appreciate. Slovakia is perceived as a canoeing power and we wanted to show that in Slovakia we can not only train legendary athletes, but also to prepare the biggest holiday of sport at a level that exceeds previous events and defines new standards. With that, we also went into this project. ” stressed for TASR the chairman of the section of wild waters of Slovak canoeing Richard Galovič.
However, the vision of the World Championships in Čunov (September 15-26, September 22-26, competition program) encountered a coronavirus pandemic. The epoch-making crisis has affected virtually every area of life and, last but not least, has affected the economic side. When Slovak canoeing applied for the right to host the championship, it could rely on general support. But after five years, everything has changed.
“Although the support has not been precisely quantified, I think it is clear to everyone what the World Cup means and what it means to support such an event. However, as the situation and priorities changed, all the processes took a relatively long time to reach a state where the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport indicated to us that it did not have sufficient resources in the current situation, and requested the submission of the lowest possible budget for the organization of the event, ” Galovič explained.
COSTS CUT TO MINIMUM
The organizers complied with the requirements. The added value had to give way so that hundreds of athletes could come to close the Olympic season with dignity: “We have deleted the complete program of care for athletes, foreign delegations, various VIP activities, which we have enshrined in the organizational agreement with the International Canoe Federation, but we said there is really no time for development activities. We also deleted the opening ceremony and most presentation activities. In fact, we have deleted almost all the program that was aimed at strengthening Slovakia ‘s diplomatic position in the structures of international sport. “
At the end of the austerity measures, we managed to “squeeze” the budget to 600 thousand euros, an amount for which other countries would hardly manage to prepare such a large event. “We have cut everything down to the bone, we have introduced a budget of 600,000 euros, which is about 2 to 2.5 times less than the cost of this type of championship anywhere else in Slovakia. These are costs that cannot be covered because they provide proper running of the event, timing, referees or the production of an international television signal for Eurosport and other broadcasters from Europe, Asia and America, ” said Galovič.
But even the savings did not bring a solution. “The ministry has told us that it can provide a maximum of 150,000 euros within its normal budget possibilities, which is causing us great difficulties,” said Galovič, according to which the financial possibilities of Slovak canoeing are practically exhausted.
NO STATE AID
The pandemic, during which they tried to help athletes, significantly contributed to this, but state support bypassed them: “From our budget possibilities, we tried to support mainly clubs and youth to maintain their activities for the past year and a half. However, we never received any special subsidy for that, say, just as the state compensated for the outages of private football or hockey clubs. We as a sports association, we have not been included in any support scheme that would allow clubs, children, youth and their competitions to be supported despite our request. In addition, we have financed the entire preparation of our representatives for the Olympic Games. “
Despite all the difficulties, the organizers managed to obtain at least part of the necessary funding from their own resources. “We have prepared money, which is our or our close advertising partners in the amount of 200 thousand euros. This means that together with the subsidy from the ministry, we are at the level of around 350 thousand euros, so we only need 250,000 euros. money, but I’m talking about a subsidy for the most successful Slovak sport, which we need once every ten years, “ Galovič emphasized and reminded that the organization of the World Championships in Slovakia is not a trifle:
“With all due respect, there are not many sports organizations that could organize such an event in Slovakia. Either there is a lack of suitable infrastructure or we are not strong enough in this sport for the international federation to award us such a championship.”
Galovič also asked for help from other ministries that have the support of sports in their portfolio, ie defense and the interior. On a daily basis, he holds talks with the State Secretary for Sport, Ivan Husár, or the Government Plenipotentiary for Sport, Karol Kučer. In addition, negotiations are underway with private companies.
“We are in a specific position with the Ministry of the Environment. We are in a complex that is owned by the state enterprise Vodohospodárska výstavba through the ministry. I understand that the Ministry of the Environment is not tasked with financing sports, but in recent months we We invested two million euros, and in a very significant way we reconstructed the area in Bratislava-Čunov and in a way we saved not only the sports ground that we paddlers use, but also state property, which was in a desolate state and the owner would have to renovate or close it anyway.
That is why we have taken the liberty of addressing Water Management Construction as our long-term strategic partner and operator of the Gabčíkovo Waterworks, which also includes the “waterworks complex in Čunov,” to help us organize the World Championships as much as possible. We very much appreciate that the Minister of the Environment, Ján Budaj, organized a joint meeting on this matter and thus became our close ally..”
THE EVENT HAS A SOCIETY SIGNIFICANCE
The World Championships are not just about prestige and sports performances, Galovič pointed out the social significance of a similar event. Especially at present: “Over the past period, we have had to sacrifice an awful lot. Our children and youth, which is a priority of Slovak canoeing, did not have a natural approach to sports. We had to cancel many events. children play sports, train, move has dropped significantly and I consider this a big problem.
That is why we saw the organization of the World Cup as a new beginning, a new era. We wanted to bring new energy to sports, not only to canoeing, but to the whole sport in Slovakia. We think that canoeing has a specific position in our country, it is the most successful Olympic sport in the country and I think that thanks to its success it has always been opinion-forming. All our athletes are very popular and have always been positive role models for the young generation, with whom there have never been any scandals. “
RISK OF REPUTATION THREATENED
However, time is running out, according to Galovič, the critical limit has already been exceeded. However, no one on the organizing committee admits to failure, and everyone is determined to do everything possible to ensure that some 500 athletes from 50 countries are not disappointed: “Unfortunately, if we wanted to cancel it correctly, we would have to cancel it much earlier, because on Wednesday the ten-day international training camp with Čunov ended with the participation of 200 competitors from abroad who came to train the new channel. But we hope as the Ministry of Education, and in particular Mr Husár, is in daily contact with us and we can see that other high-ranking state officials are not indifferent to this either.
We believe that there will be a way to solve this. Either way, the day will come, and it is not weeks, but only the days when we will have to say whether or not we are able to organize the World Championships so that we do not cause Slovak canoeing financial losses and Slovakia’s loss of reputation. It shouldn’t be done that way, and we’ve never done it that way, but we’re athletes and we fight to the end. “
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