By Michael Houston |
The Hungarian Government is making cuts of around $19.3 million to the budgets for the nation’s top Olympic sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hungary’s 16 priority Olympic sports are to have their funding for this year cut by 20 percent, according to 24.hu.
Cumulatively, this amounts to $5.77 million.
“Sports, like all sectors of the economy, have taken their share of epidemiological measures,” Sports Minister Tünde Szabó said.
According to Szabó, the high-profile sports losing 20 percent of their funding were notified on April 20.
Furthermore, $27.06 million assigned for the development of sporting facilities has been almost halved.
It is estimated by 24.hu that the overall financial loss for Hungary’s 16 leading Olympic sports from the two cuts is HUF 5.7 billion.
In terms of direct 2020 funding, per the estimates, swimming will receive $3.6 million instead of $4.5 million.
It is the sport that receives the largest amount from the Government, followed by canoeing.
Seven of Hungary’s 15 Olympic medals won at Rio 2016 came in the pool.
The nation also won three canoeing medals – all gold – and four in fencing.
Szabó justified the reductions partly due to cancelled or suspended programmes like training camps, but stressed that the most important areas such as salaries had not been impacted.
The Sports Minister is a former Olympian and won a silver medal in the women’s 100 metres backstroke at Barcelona 1992.
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.