SPORTS

Track-and-field federation blasts state budget cuts

The Greek Amateur Athletics Federation (SEGAS) criticized on Wednesday the government for chopping 50 percent of the state funds for sports federations in 2014.

The financial crisis in the country has led to the General Secretariat of Sports making drastic cuts in subsidies to sports federations.

“The announcement of the grants to sports federations by the General Secretariat of Sports unfortunately demonstrates that amateur sports has been deleted from the priorities of the state,» the announcement by SEGAS said.

SEGAS said the grant cuts by the government «will not even cover the minimum operational costs of the federations.”

The General Secretariat of Sports announced on Wednesday that only 11.2 million euros will be given to the federations this year, a 50 percent decrease from the previous year.

Some federations will not receive any financial aid from the state while SEGAS is scheduled to get 2.3 million euros, a 67 percent drop from 2013.

“SEGAS calls on the state to realize that supporting sports helps invest in youth, society, better health and better quality of life. Amateur sports needs additional funding. We intend to challenge this financing in cooperation with other sports federations and the Hellenic Olympic Committee,» the SEGAS announcement said.

[AFP]

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