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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
WORLD Athletics together with the International Athletics Foundation (IAF) has availed US$500 000 to support professional athletes experiencing financial hardship due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the fund will be used to assist athletes that have lost most of their income in the last few months due to the suspension of international competitions as the world battles to contain the pandemic.

Established in 1986 to support charitable causes involving athletics, the IAF, under the honorary presidency of Prince Albert XI of Monaco, has allocated resources from its budgets for 2020 and 2021 to assist athletes in need.

Coe, who also chairs the IAF, will chair an expert multi-regional working group to assess applications for assistance that will be submitted to World Athletics’ six area associations.

Members will include Olympic champion and 1 500m world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj, Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi (representing the WA athletics commission), WA executive board members Sunil Sabharwal (audit committee) and Abby Hoffman.

WA members Adile Sumariwalla, Beatrice Ayikoru and Willie Banks as well as IAF executive committee member and former WA treasurer Jose Maria Odriozola and Team Athletics St Vincent and the Grenadines president Keith Joseph will also be part of the working group.

The working group will meet to establish a process for awarding and distributing grants to individual athletes and to look at other ways to raise additional money for the fund.

“I am in constant contact with athletes around the world and I know that many of them are experiencing financial hardship as a consequence of the shutdown of most international sports competitions in the last two months. Our professional athletes rely on prize money as part of their income and we are mindful that our competition season, both the track and road is being severely impacted by the pandemic.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to stage at least some competitions later this year, but in the meantime we will also endeavour, through this fund and additional monies we intend to seek through friends of our sport, to help as many athletes as possible,” said Coe.

Prince Albert XI said the fund has to date distributed over US$30 million in aid since it was launched.

“I am delighted that we can put our resources behind this initiative so we can make a difference to the lives of athletes who are suffering financially at this time. We hope that this support will help those athletes preparing for international competitions, including next year’s Olympic Games, to sustain their training, support their families and that this will relieve them of some stress in these uncertain times,” said Prince Albert XI.