Johannesburg - Bert Le Clos, who has become almost as well known as his son, Olympic gold swimmer Chad, is fuming at what he believes to be unfair discrimination by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).
Le Clos said he was furious that some Operation Excellence (Opex) athletes who receive money from the Sascoc were getting “hundreds of thousands” more than his son.
Chad is regarded as the greatest South African athlete currently competing internationally.
This week, Facebook sites were critical of the fact that, according to the recently released Opex budget for the year ending 31 March 2014, SA sprint canoer Bridgitte Hartley received a hefty R538 620, while Chad was granted only R373 422.
Website Zwem Za was one of those on which Chad le Clos fans voiced fury at what they perceived to be unfair bias towards Hartley, who brought home a bronze medal from this year’s Olympic Games.
Chad is currently competing in Moscow in the Fina Swimming World Cup, where he has already won a slew of races.
“The swimming fraternity thinks it is shameful that my son, who is currently the highest-rated athlete on the continent, gets less than someone whose achievements come nowhere near his.
“I have nothing against Hartley, but Sascoc has provided so little funding for Chad this year that he has been paying for his own flights since April.
“He needs to be well-rested when he arrives to compete, but he is sitting in cattle class, while officials travel business class. That is simply not right.
“He wears the SA flag on his tracksuit every time he gets on to the podium to accept another gold medal, and when he gets home the first thing Sascoc officials do is ask him to pose for a picture, but this is how they treat him when it comes to sponsorship.
“I should probably not be speaking out, but I am known for saying it like it is. I just want my son to get what is fair.
“If what is trending on social media about this Sascoc payment issue is anything to go by, then I would say the confederation is wrong, as people are claiming.
“The highest-achieving professional athlete in the country, who brings back the most medals and honours, should get the lion’s share of the Sascoc budget.”
The Opex money is paid out to 80 Olympic and Paralympic athletes across 16 sporting codes.
This past year, according Sascoc’s budget information, athletes got R1.73 million, swimmers R1.6m, and cyclists and other sportsmen and -women R912 687.
Defending both Sascoc and her own allowance, Hartley spoke to the Sunday Tribune from the US, where she is currently training.
She said it was unfortunate Bert Le Clos was levelling accusations, and felt they were unfounded.
“Our money works on a receipt-budget basis,” she said.
“I often spend a lot of my own money in advance on transporting my craft, booking flights and accommodation, hiring cars and buying food when I compete internationally and take part in training camps.
“Afterwards, I submit the receipts and claim the money back. We have to motivate why we need the money.”
Hartley said she did not have a squad to train with, as swimmers do, and relied on international training camps to improve her speed and skill.
“I have no desire to slate Sascoc when they are helping the smaller sporting codes in SA to compete on the international scene.”
“It is often the sport-code federations that are at fault because they didn’t apply for the funding, and then just expect Sascoc to give them money.
“I am eternally grateful for the money I get from Sascoc. Without it, I could not train and race internationally.”
Tubby Reddy, Sascoc’s chief executive, told the Sunday Tribune the money was not awarded on a means basis, “(o)r we would definitely not have to give money to Chad le Clos, who is earning very well”.
He pointed out that Graham Hill, Chad’s coach, was paid by Sascoc – a significant financial outlay.
Reddy denied reports that Sascoc officials attended all international competitions and travelled business class.
This was confirmed by an industry insider.
Former Olympic swimming gold medal winner Ryk Neethling supported Bert le Clos, saying an athlete of Chad’s standing “needs more support than he is getting” from Sascoc. - The Sunday Independent