Impact of financial crisis on European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games
The city of Antwerp, Belgium, is set to host the 2012 European Long Course Swimming Championships as a decision was finalised in May 2011, after the meeting of Ligue Europeenne de Natation (LEN), which is the governing body of 51 national European Federations.
Previously, the bid to host the European Championships was won by Vienna, who withdrew their offer by expressing that it does not want to host the European mega event.
Before meeting of LEN members, the 2012 European Swimming Championships failed to attract a host nation due to the continued financial crisis. The global monetary disaster and elevated costs of organising multi-sport events have led to the absence of a host
nation for an internationally recognised event.
Previous year, LEN placed their confidence in Budapest and Eindhoven, to organise events of aquatics sports, including swimming, synchronised swimming and diving championships. Both cities were successful in staging the events wonderfully within their budget
constraints.
Antwerp is scheduled to organise the Synchronised European Swimming Championships from May 16-20, 2012. The event is scheduled to precede the European Long Course Swimming Championships, which are also being hosted in Antwerp from May 21-27, 2012. The diving
championships will be hosted by Eindhoven, who will organise diving events from May 16-20. Antwerp will once again host an international swimming meet, the European Junior Swimming Championships from July 4-8, 2012.
The absence of a host is not solely a problem at the European level. The international aquatic spots governing body, Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), has also approached various cities to host the 2013 World Championships, after Dubai withdrew
an approved bid.
Dubai won the bid over Moscow and Hamburg for the 2013 World Championships. FINA then laid down the proposal to both cities, which was refused by them.
After a lot of struggle and negotiations between the Spanish Federation and FINA representatives, Barcelona has finally agreed to host the 2013 World Championships. According to representatives, Barcelona has the capability to stage an international swimming
event. They expressed that Barcelona was the host of 2003 World Championships, which was a very successful event. The body justified their decision by saying that Barcelona has a strong backing of government and local authorities, along with having the appropriate
infrastructure which is required to host a world event.
In addition, the 2012 London Olympics are also unable to escape the financial crunch. In their fifth annual report, the National Audit Office stressed that 79 percent of the venues are completed but the concluding costs of projected games remain ambiguous.
The manufacturing costs of various facilities, which need to be installed for these Games, have been increasing over time.
The increased pressure of financial issues has severely affected the ability of prominent nations to host international swimming meets. Lack of funds puts immense pressure on nations in organising swimming events and makes it difficult for them to elevate
the standard of the sport.
Prominent swimming bodies, FINA and LEN need to take precautionary measures for forthcoming events, as the absence of host nations will have an adverse effect on international swimming tournaments.
Tags: