Timely sports funding is crucial

Editorial, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 6th June 2013

 LAST week, PNG Athletics president Tony Green made some pointed comments about the efficiency of the “Go for Gold” (G4G) sports funding programme. 

Green said there was just a handful of codes that could afford to maintain fulltime staff.

The majority of sports bodies were manned by volunteers, giving up their personal and work time to ensure their respective codes were run effectively. 

With Port Moresby hosting the 2015 Pacific Games, the Government initiated through the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee (PNGSFOC) and the Sports Foundation a programme aimed at ensuring the various codes would be able to run development programmes to identify and prepare athletes to represent the country.

The issue that Green, and no doubt other sports administrators in the same boat, is  concerned about is the slowness of funds being released. 

Unlike other prominent and well-funded sports such as rugby league, cricket and soccer, most sports survive on Government funding and have little share of the sponsorship pie. 

Last year, the process of sports accessing funding was much quicker than at present. 

Money would be made available or costs paid for in as little as two days after a request was made. 

According to Green, a joint committee of representatives from the PNGSFOC and the Sports Foundation vetted and signed off on submissions and sent them to  the Finance Department which would, in most instances, make the money available immediately.

That is not the case this year. Now it seems one signatory (the Sports Foundation) is demanding a level of transparency and accountability that is pushing the bounds of practicality and common sense, Green said. 

Three quotes for every purchase may work for some items and equipment or services but Green argues that it is counterproductive and a waste of time in some cases. 

It is the little things that are dragging the efforts of sports administrators like Green down. 

“What’s the point asking for three quotes for domestic airfares?  It’s a complete waste of time,” Green said.

“Anyone who has done an airline booking knows that if you don’t pay for it in 24 hours the booking gets cancelled.

“If you want to get value for money, give sports the ability to make prompt payments,” he added.

“The current procedure is slow, cumbersome and frustrating for everyone involved. 

“It’s wasting the time of a lot of people running around trying to get small payments done.” 

Green is not the only one speaking out. 

The Bodybuilding Federation is scheduled to stage its national championships in Kokopo this weekend.

But for its president, Cosmas Hannette, it has been a slow process trying to get funding to run the event as well as bring in an international judge from New Zealand.

 Not many people realise it but the amount of work that goes in behind the scenes is herculean. An efficient funding process plays a big part in bringing all the elements together. 

The national championships could very well be postponed to a later date meaning competitors and organisers may have to re-book tickets, push forward venue and accommodation plans just because funding to run an event has not been forthcoming. 

It’s a domino effect that does no one any favours.

The situation must be addressed in a manner that allows the sporting codes some leg room in terms of getting payments on time so they can get on with the real work of readying athletes for 2015. 

One can go on and say that if the quality of preparation is lacking then it will surely affect our performance.

It means the difference between finishing in the top three medal positions or being an also ran.

Green said the Finance Department should treat sports federations, the PNGSFOC and the foundation like statutory bodies. 

“What’s the difference between giving an annual budget to a statutory body to manage its own affairs and giving a sum of money to the Sports Federation, G4G committee, or whatever you want to call it, like they did last year? 

“Finance doesn’t expect statutory bodies to apply to them to make every payment so why should they in this case?”