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≡ INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS ≡
One of the benefits of the governance reviews undertaken by the umbrella group, the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, is to illustrate the enormous gap between the largest and richest federations and the smallest and poorest.
And yet, there are smaller federations which are also excellent in the governance area.
In the newly-published sixth Governance review, 14 federations were in the highest, “A1″ tier of 210 to 228 points out of a possible 240; seven were in the “A2″ group of 185-209 points; 13 were in the “B” group of 150-184 and then one each in the “B” category for Associate members (International Federation of American Football) and then the new World Boxing group in category “C” at less than 135.
The top scorer, at 228, was World Athletics.
Now a look at a few key figures, remembering that the five added sports for Los Angeles 2028 (Baseball-Softball, Cricket, Flag Football, Lacrosse and Squash) are “Associate Members” and are among the smallest of the federations surveyed.
● Revenue:
The 36 federations surveyed reported annual revenues in Swiss francs (CHF) in six bands (CHGF 1 = $1.26 U.S.):
● 8 had more than CHF 50 million (one Associate Member)
● 5 had CHF 20 to 50 million
● 5 had CHF 8 to 20 million
● 10 had CHF 4 to 8 million
● 5 had CHF 2 to 4 million (one Associate Member)
● 3 had less than CHF 2 million (all Associate Members)
So, 18 of 36 – 50% – had revenues of CHF 8 million or less and only 13 of 36 (36.1%) had annual revenues of CHF 20 million or more. In this context, it is worth remembering that the 28 federations involved in Paris 2024 as sports included by the International Olympic Committee each received an “Olympic dividend” of at least about $18 million each as a share of the IOC’s worldwide television rights sales. The four added sports – Breaking, Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing – received only token amounts for 2024 but will Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing will receive full shares for 2028.
By this metric, about half of the federations from Paris 2024 basically survive on the IOC’s television shares.
● Staff:
Another reflection of IF ability and sophistication is staff size and there was a wide disparity:
● 5 had 120 staff or more
● 9 had 50 to 119 staff
● 10 had 20 to 49 staff
● 6 had 10 to 19 staff
● 6 had zero to 9 staff
So, of the 36 federations covered by the survey – those for the sports on the Olympic program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games – 22 (61.1%) had less than 50 people and only five (13.8%) had 120 or more.
That’s an astonishing total of, essentially, “have-not” federations. And yet they are all part of the Olympic Games.
● Performance:
Staff size definitely had an impact on the governance scores, with the big federations – not surprisingly – performing best, based on averaged scores:
● 161 average for IFs of 0-9 staff
● 181 average for IFs of 10-19
● 194 average for IFs of 20-49
● 206 average for IFs of 50-119
● 219 average for IFs with 120+
The report noted exceptions to this grouping, as three federations of 20-49 people – and in the 4-8 million CHF class – were in the A1 scoring group; there were also federations with 50-119 staff who ended up in the B classification, scoring under 185.
It’s a fascinating study, demonstrating that even in 2026, there were four federations which did not publish three years of financial statements and further, 15 of 36 had audited financials to international standards. And four of the 36 federations had no term limits for their elected officials, but all of the Associate Members did.
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