£5m prize money will not be funded from taxpayers’ money, says Boris Johnson – World Athletics Championships 2017
London, amid the eleventh hour arrangements had promised the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to give away the prize money of £ 5m to the athletes, has finally secured the World Athletics Championships for 2017.
The city had to face a rather tough time against its rival Doha, another potential host for the mega athletic event.
Initially, the success was perceived to be huge. However, the officials with a deeper insight of the matter were concerned about the way this extra money will be arranged.
As per the news, London initially does not have the budgetary allocation for the promised prize money that secured the event for it.
While addressing the issue proactively, Boris Johnson, the Mayor of the UK capital said that the extra money will not be funded from the taxpayers’ money. Rather, he has other plans to raise it.
While briefing the London Assembly over the issue, the Mayor made it clear that it was crucial to use the promised prize money as bait as the city’s rival for the event, Doha, had also made a similar offer to the World Athletics body.
Providing the details, Johnson, who was rather content over his team’s presentation in Monaco last week, said, “There will be no extra exposure to the taxpayer. As (bid leader) Ed Warner said it was a last-minute reveal. Doha wielded a considerable cheque-book
and we didn’t have that advantage but we were able to jig some funds around and partly match that Doha Offer”.
He further added, “I consider that to be reasonable and it will be partly sponsorship money and the rest is already part of the budget of the bid”.
Not arguing much about how this additional money will be raised, the London Assembly, however, expressed concerns over the fact that the overall budget of the event had risen from £25 million to a hefty £30 million.
Addressing the apex body’s concerns, Boris said that he did not have the exact figure for how much the event was going to cost the city. However, in his opinion, considering how imperative the event was for the city’s economy, the initial offer for the event
was still a good call.
Boris assured that the additional funds will not be raised by levying additional taxes. Although London is lacking the required funds for the time being, it hopes to generate them very soon and without burdening the locals.
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