Goal to be financially independent, self-sufficient
Daire Walsh
As part of their new, athlete-centred seven-year strategic plan (2018-2024), the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) are seeking to become a financially independent, self-sufficient body.
This was one of the key points outlined by OCI President Sarah Keane at a media briefing in Dublin’s Buswells Hotel, which acted as a precursor to their latest EGM last night in the National Sports Campus.
In order to fully maximise their brand name, Keane and her board will look to generate significant revenue to help fund the programmes and services they currently provide to their athletes.
“The Olympic Council has always had substantial reserves. I think this board will look at what we think is the right amount of reserves that we should be holding. Everything else will be going back into sport. I also think, as we further develop our relationship with the IOC, they have taken on extra sponsors,” Keane stated.
“The way it works is, they have 12 or 13 top sponsors, and they give a certain amount of that to all of the Olympic committees. That amount of money is quite significant in this cycle. It’s over €1m, maybe close to €2m. It goes up every year, so you get a certain percentage every year in a cycle. We are able to budget. That’s multi-annual funding.
“We don’t have that in this country, but we have it at international level, as it’s recognised as being important in terms of planning. Whether it’s optimistic or otherwise, we do believe as a board we will bring in commercial revenue over time.”
Last night’s EGM also addressed what will be a key change to its constitution, whereby term limits will be imposed on OCI’s executive committee members. As a general rule going forward, each person will have a four-year individual term of office, and won’t be allowed to serve on the executive for more than eight years (i.e. two four-year terms).
This rule is set to be fully implemented from 2028 (the next OCI elections are in 2020), and though it is far from being a done deal, Keane sees it as a step in the right direction.
“The first thing is our member confederations have to vote this in. We need 75% present for the governance changes to be approved. It’s not a done deal at this point. I think it’s just one step. What we’re doing in terms of how we’re running the board, our transparency, our funding policy, how we follow the strategic policy, and that we’re held to account, are all part of that.
“Ultimately, whether we change, the reputation of the organisation is not ours. It’s the public’s. When we drop the ball, we’ll say we’ve dropped the ball and hopefully it won’t impact on an athlete.”
Members at the EGM were presented with a new strategy by the OCI Athletes Commission, which aims to provide a voice to athletes on their respective Olympic journeys.
The commission’s chairman, former Winter Olympian Shane O’Connor, joined Keane and fellow board members Lochlann Walsh and Sarah O’Shea at yesterday’s briefing, and is confident that effective structures can lead to future success for athletes.
“From an athlete’s perspective, it’s really key that structures are put in place to support performance. There is no point talking about setting arbitrary targets and medals if we don’t have that in place,” O’Connor explained.
“We have to look at what we have and what we have to change. Once we have good systems in place to enable performance, then I think you’ll see the achievement.”