Danni Roche plans to inject more funding into neglected sports if elected AOC president

SAVINGS from John Coates’ $750,000 salary will become the lifeblood of 15 impoverished sports if Danni Roche wins the battle for the AOC presidency.

Danni Roche is running for AOC president. Picture: AAP Images

SAVINGS from John Coates’ contentious $750,000 salary will become the lifeblood of 15 impoverished sports if Danni Roche wins the battle for the Australian Olympic Committee presidency next month.

The former hockey star has promised to reduce the presidential consultancy fee from $750,000 a year to $100,000 and, if elected, to forgo any allowance for the length of her term.

A 1996 Atlanta Games gold medallist, Roche outlined plans to redirect an additional $3 million to Olympics sports that receive the least funding from the AOC.

Representatives of those sports — fencing, handball, karate, modern pentathlon, skateboarding, sport climbing, synchronised swimming, wrestling, biathlon, bobsleigh and skeleton, curling, ice hockey, ice racing, ice skating and luge — will vote at next month’s election.

It is the first challenge to Coates, 66, in a 26-year reign described by his detractors as “dictatorial”.

Roche, 46, has the support of several key sports but faces a difficult task to unseat the most powerful Australian figure on the international Olympic stage.

Danni Roche is running for AOC president. Picture: Ian Currie

But Australia’s diminishing Games performance — from 50 medals and fourth overall in Athens in 2004 to 29 medals and 10th overall in Rio last year — coupled with sharp criticism of “excessive” AOC administrative spending has Coates under pressure.

A former Coates supporter, Roche contacted several sports groups with details to revamp AOC finances.

“I have promised to reduce the cost of running the AOC to ensure every available dollar is spent on sports and athletes,” Roche, a successful businesswoman, said.

“Every summer and winter Olympic sport is important, but it is clear that the AOC can and should be doing much more to support those that receive the smallest amount of government funding.

“I’ve spoken to our smaller Olympic sports and they’ve made it clear that this proposal will make a material difference in helping athletes reach their potential.

“An additional $50,000 a year will help sports co-fund travel to international training and competition, improve training programs at home and develop the next crop of athletes so that Australia has the chance to be represented in every Olympic sport.

“More funding will allow long-term planning, allow athletes to train and compete internationally and help ensure the next generation of Olympians are not lost to another sport, or to sport all together.’’

John Coates is the current AOC president. Picture: Getty Images

Currently, the AOC provides an average $18,300 a year in grants to sports that receive less than $100,000 in Federal Government funding.

Throwing down the gauntlet to Coates, Roche has vowed to boost that figure to $50,000 a year by slashing overheads, notably Coates’ exorbitant fee.

She also committed to a “line-by-line review of AOC expenditure on compensation, administration and marketing to identify further savings”.

Roche promised those savings would be allocated across all of Australia’s summer and winter Olympic sports, “ensuring that every single Olympic sport will benefit from administrative efficiencies”.

She rejected Coates’ claim that she planned to raid the Australian Olympic Foundation war chest, saying: “I guarantee that I will keep the distribution policy for the Australian Olympic Foundation, ensuring that the capital amount is protected and grown in perpetuity.”