Australian Olympic Committee calls for sports funding overhaul ahead of 2032 games

The photo taken on Jan. 8, 2020 shows the Brisbane City Hall. (Photo by Yuheng Wu/Xinhua)

CANBERRA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has been urged to adopt a "fundamentally new" model for sport in anticipation of hosting the Olympic Games in 2032.

In February, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revealed that the Australian city of Brisbane is its preferred candidate to host the 2032 Olympic Games.

Ahead of an official announcement expected by local media on the eve of the delayed Tokyo games in July, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) recently have written to the federal government calling for a "fundamentally new investment model" for sport, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

In the 57-page submission, chief executives of the AOC and CGA Matt Carroll and Craig Phillips argue that the current system - which is managed by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) with oversight from Sport Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) - "creates winners and losers and does not promote the building of the capability and capacity of the individual sports."

They said that a new model would "transform the industry's relationship with government" and would improve obesity, mental health, and education outcomes for Australian children.

Carroll and Phillips requested a meeting with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg before he hands down the government's Intergenerational Report in June.

"Historically, the AOC, CGA and our collective Member Sports have not made a submission or provided any input to the government's deliberative process in calibrating its economic and policy responses to the intergenerational challenges faced by the nation," the submission said.

"The AOC and CGA view this omission as a serious failing on our part."

Australia last hosted the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.

The relationship between the AOC and ASC has been deteriorating since the Sydney Games, according to ABC's report.

The decline in their relationship has coincided with a dramatic decline in Australia's results at the Olympic games.

At the 2004 games in Athens Australian athletes won 50 medals - 17 of which were gold - compared to 29 medals - eight gold - at Rio in 2016.

Carroll said the AOC and CGA want a bigger say.

"Between the two organizations we represent more than 13 million Australians who participate in sport, basically half the population of the country," he said.

"It's not just about sport putting its hand up for money, no, it's all about how we can help with the obesity issue, how we can help with education, how we can help with participation and, yes, how we can help with performance in the case of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

"What we are saying is, if you really want the games to be successful, but more importantly get all the opportunities between now and the games, the eight-year-olds today are your Olympians in 2032."