PSC chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann attends the PSA Forum. –PSA PHOTO
The 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games will serve as a way for national sports associations (NSAs) to justify future budget requests from the government.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chair Richard Bachmann said on Tuesday that with the number of NSAs ballooning to 70, the government’s lead agency for sports will adopt a matrix to determine the percentage of distribution of financial assistance.
“How do you allocate the budget for all these sports? During 2018 and 2019, we only had 40 NSAs. Right now we have 70 and the budget is basically the same,’’ said Bachmann during the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Different criteria
According to Bachmann, the new financial assistance matrix will rely less on historical data of past performances and instead be a combination of different criteria.
“Under the matrix, there will be certain points for certain criteria for Olympic sports and non-Olympic sports. Is the NSA self-sufficient because some of them have sponsors? For individual and team sports, there will be certain points,’’ said Bachmann.
“And for medals in the Olympics, Asian Games or SEA Games there will be certain points. Do they have good governance? Do they have a grassroots program? They earn certain points totaling 100 percent,’’ added Bachmann.
He pointed out that the key would be the medal production of the NSAs in the international arena.
“They have to perform. If they perform, they get more money from the [PSC] budget next year,’’ said Bachmann.
The SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which is scheduled from May 5 to 17, will give close to 900 athletes from different NSAs to earn matrix points.