Sports lottery under threat in Australia
The proposed sports lottery to fund the Olympics team is reportedly under threat as state governments need more time for consultation.
Australia.- State governments said that they need more time before approving a millionaire plan to fast-track the national sports lottery that would fund the Australian Olympic team in Tokyo 2020. The sports betting lottery would raise US$74.54 million for the team.
The deadline to submit suggestions regarding the government’s proposal ended in mid-July, but state governments agreed with Sports Minister Greg Hunt to extend the consultation period on Friday. Therefore, the plan to get the national sports lottery up and running by next July is under threat, The Australian reported. During the meeting, state sports ministers said that they were concerned over the timing of the plan, as they believe that it has an ambitious start date, the news outlet said. Moreover, there are concerns around gambling being utilised to raise funds for national sports teams.
“A public-good lottery has been a key part of the recent success of both Great Britain and New Zealand, and the minister will continue to work with the states in developing the plan,” said a spokesman for Hunt. “The states already receive substantial tax revenue from lotteries and similar practices, and both Queensland and Victoria acknowledged this at the meeting. We will work patiently and constructively with all partners. This consultation is the start of the process and it is premature to set timelines for the operation of the lottery before the plan has been drafted,” he added.
The sports ministers claimed that more discussions are needed with state-based treasurers as the creation of the new lottery could generate losses for existing lottery systems. The model that officials are considering covers the losses that the new sports lottery could bring for the existing lotteries.
Last month, the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA) expressed its concerns over the new gambling offer because it claimed that if lottery taxes get redistributed in order to fund the sports program, other social causes, like the money that go to schools and charities, could be cut.
The sports plan includes the creation of a national integrity tribunal to determine doping, match-fixing and other serious charges against athletes, in addition to the sports lottery. It originates as a response to the poor results in the previous Olympics and the shrinking of the sports budget, plus a dispute between Australian Sports Commission (ASC) chairman John Wylie and Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates.
The idea is to copy Great Britain’s lottery-based funding model. Their team gets twice as much allocations than Australia’s Olympic Team. In the last six years, government funding for the ASC has decreased by US$12.7 million to US$187.1 million.
