Bombshell reforms for world swimming’s governing body after News Corp exposed FINA’s shame

Swimming cannot truly move on from its torrid past until it rights the wrongs which have been committed, writes Julian Linden — and it should start by airing its dirty secrets.

Everyone who cares about clean sport should be celebrating the news that the tarnished FINA name is about to be consigned to history and swimming’s world governing body is finally serious about introducing overdue reforms.

It has taken decades for the sport’s leaders to admit to their failings and commit to a new era of independence and transparency and that’s a timely reminder to other bodies dragging their heels that it’s never too late to change.

The proposed reforms are a great start but that’s all they are, because there’s still so much more that needs to be done.

If swimming’s new bosses are really genuine about turning over a new leaf, they also need to right the wrongs of the past.

And that means being completely transparent about all the sport’s dirty little secrets that have been swept under the carpet for far too long.

Swimming’s most successful countries, including Australia and the US, stand accused of ducking and diving whenever serious abuse claims surface, falling back on the tired old excuse that they couldn’t investigate something they didn’t receive a formal complaint about.

That’s the same cop out that every other sporting organisation turns to when they find themselves in hot water but it doesn’t wash any more.

Mustapha Larfaoui.

Nor does FINA’s pathetic approach to dealing with the scourge of doping, which has amounted to little more than shrugging their shoulders as generations of East Germans, Chinese and Russians cheated the system.

FINA can’t redistribute the Olympic medals won by East Germans in the 1970s and 19080s but they can take a stand in support of clean athletes by awarding Mack Horton the gold medal he should have received at the 2019 world championships.

FINA also needs to start taking action against its own officials who overstepped the line.

They should start by stripping Mustapha Larfaoui of his honorary life presidency after he was identified as the source who leaked Ian Thorpe’s private medical records to a French newspaper to try and smear his reputation.

Larfaoui says he no longer recalls what he told the reporter.

The time for talking is over. Action is needed.

BOMBSHELL REFORMS AS WORLD SWIMMING BLOWN UP

The long battle to clean up swimming’s poor leadership has finally been won.

After years of running world aquatics with an iron fist, the dinosaurs in charge of the sport’s global governing body FINA have been shown the door.

In a historic announcement in Europe overnight, FINA’s newly appointed reform committee has lit the fuse to blow up the entire organisation and start all over again.

And not before time.

For Mack Horton and all the other fearless competitors who stood up to FINA’s dictatorial behaviour, this is the ultimate vindication of their prolonged fight for a fair go from one of the most self-indulgent sporting bodies on the planet.

Aussie Mack Horton refused to stand on the podium with convicted Chinese drug cheat Sun Yang. Picture: AP

It took a two-year investigation by News Corp that exposed FINA’s shameful secrets to the world, but major overdue reforms are now finally coming, including:

■ The creation of an independent integrity unit to deal with doping and other serious violations;

■ Modifying the protocols to protect athletes from harassment and abuse;

■ Modifying the sport’s outdated constitution and code of ethics;

■ Giving women more opportunities on the male dominated executive committees;

■ Overhauling the sport’s over bloated calendar of events;

■ Giving more prizemoney for athletes instead of fat cat officials;

■ Empowering athletes to have a say in the running of the sport; and

■ Dumping the FINA name.

Once approved, these overdue changes will hopefully end the days when the likes of China’s Sun Yang can compete while still under investigation for anti-doping offences and FINA attempted to smear the reputations of champion competitors like Ian Thorpe.

A formal vote on the proposals will take place at an extraordinary general congress in Abu Dhabi in December but highly-placed sources have told News Corp everything will be rubber-stamped.

FINA “shall not leave a single stone unturned in the way in which it looks to the future,” the reform committee’s chairman Francois Carrard wrote.

“After all, reform is not a single event. It is a process that will test our patience.”

A huge shake-up is afoot at FINA HQ. Picture: TASS/Getty Images

The scathing 20-page report also amounts to a formal recognition of FINA’s reprehensible actions over the years.

It confirmed everything that News Corp’s investigations into FINA’s dirty secrets has already revealed – that the 113-year old organisation is riddled with deep-rooted problems, from the way it governs aquatic disciplines to the way it sweeps serious integrity complaints under the carpet to the way it mismanages events and it mistreats the athletes that generate the sport’s enormous fortunes and bullies anyone who speaks up.

FINA threatened legal action when News Corp earlier this year revealed the eye-watering perks its leaders enjoyed, which topped $9.5 million at the 2017 world championship in Budapest, but everything changed the moment Husain Al-Musallam was elected as the new president in June and the clean-up campaign began.

Unsurprisingly, one of the key recommendations that has been proposed is for an increase in the amount of prizemoney and funding given to athletes along with a slashing of the handouts to executives.

But there’s much more:

Troubled waters.

An exert from Saturday Extra.

GOVERNANCE

One of the few major sports in the world that has steadfastly refused to allow for external investigations into integrity issues, FINA has finally agreed to establish an aquatics integrity unit.

Completely independent from FINA, the unit will be given the authority to investigate and adjudicate on a range of issues including, anti-doping, event manipulation and corruptible offences and ethical violations.

The report also recommended that FINA change its Code of Ethics and overhaul its Constitution so that Presidential term limits are limited to a maximum of 12 years, the same as the International Olympic Committee.

PROMOTING THE SPORT

The report called for a radical overhaul of the way aquatic sports are marketed and run, including a review of existing sponsorship and broadcast deals, changes to the event calendar to focus more on “quality over quantity”, staging major events on all five continents rather than sticking to mostly Asia and Europe, engaging with and promoting athletes, and developing better communication and digital strategies.

The committee also wants to replace the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) acronym with a more modern identifiable brand name, such as World Aquatics.

SAFETY AND EQUITY

Long overdue, the committee has also recommended changes to the protection rules on abuse and harassment as well as the policies of mental health and wellbeing.

There is a also a proposal to update anti-discrimination policies and create greater diversity in leadership roles because the FINA Bureau currently consists of 33 members, only five of whom are female.

“FINA is at a critical crossroad,” the report said.

“Significant issues of transparency and communication persist and need immediate attention. The direction FINA now takes going forward will determine its fate in the future.”