NGBs less dependent on Gov’t help

SPORT Company of TT (SporTT) chairman Douglas Camacho said while the organisation has waived $8 million in facility fees for national governing bodies in fiscal 2018, NGBs have been receiving significantly less in recent years.

A press release, on Monday, from SporTT said, “For fiscal 2018, which ended in October 2019, approximately $8 million in waivers were passed on to partner bodies for use of our various facilities.”

The release said waivers are qualified as facilities rental, office space, storage rental and sports sciences services used, such as physi-therapy, gym use, evaluation and testing.

Asked if NGBs would become too dependant on government assistance because of facility fees being waived, Camacho said, “I think the reality is that in the recent past, the last six years or so, the extent of the cash contribution of the Government to NGBs has been significantly reduced, to the point where NGBs in the last few years have gotten very little support directly form the Government. They are less dependent now than they had been in the past.”

Sporting organisations try to raise their own funds and count on corporate sponsorship to host sporting events. Some major corporate sponsors that pump money into sporting events are Republic Bank, Scotiabank, First Citizens, RBC, Guardian Group and Sagicor.

Despite waiving millions for NGBs, SporTT owes millions of dollars to a number of organisations, including MTS and TTEC. Camacho said it was in the process of paying back.

“We still have a number of creditors we owe and we are still working with them to try and pay off whatever we owe them.”

Camacho said SporTT does not benefit through rental fees from all the events at sporting facilities throughout the year, especially during the busy Carnival season. The Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain and Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba host a number of events every Carnival. When these events are held, SporTT does not reap the rewards.

“When people rent it outside of national competitions, the revenue goes to central Government, the consolidated fund. So if Machel (Montano) rents the stadium, if somebody rents it for a private event, a sporting event or otherwise, those funds go to the consolidated fund (Ministry of Finance).”