IRB hold World Cup to ransom
Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:25
The International Rugby Board (IRB) will be charging the host countries of future World Cup tournaments an absolute fortune for the rights to host the quadrennial tournament.
The IRB, rugby union's governing body, announced after its meeting in Hong Kong on Tuesday that the hosts of the 2015 and 2019 World Cups would be decided in July next year.
But according to rugbyheaven.co.nz, the IRB did not reveal at that stage how much they would be charging prospective countries who wished to stage the tournament.
It is reported that the IRB will be charging the 2015 World Cup host nation a tournament fee of a cool US$100-million (ZAR770-million).
The country wishing to host the 2019 World Cup, will have to shell out an astronomical US$120-million (ZAR924-million).
This move by the IRB has taken many officials by surprise, especially considering the large fees that are involved.
It is not a regular occurrence in the world of sport for governing bodies to charge host nations exorbitant amounts in exchange for the privilege of hosting a global tournament.
Soccer's World Cup, the Olympic Games, and the cricket World Cup are organised by governing bodies FIFA, the IOC and the ICC respectively.
None of these controlling entities charge host countries a flat fee for hosting their respective tournaments - they generate revenue through other avenues, such as ticket sales quotas, media and sponsorship rights, and television rights.
One international rugby official summed up the mood when he told the Sydney Morning Herald: "The Rugby World Cup is only just over 20 years old, but in that time the IRB had become excessively and unnecessarily greedy."
IRB and Rugby World Cup chairman Bernard Lapasset justified the fees by pointing out that the IRB ploughs plenty of cash into the game at other levels.
Lapasset said the 2007 World Cup "generated a surplus of over US$120-million which has been reinvested into the game through grants to unions, the underwriting of international tournaments and the funding of targeted strategic high performance programmes".
It is also believed that the IRB have been swayed in their decision by the prediction that the revenues from the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand will be unimpressive, and that the governing body is looking to recoup the projected losses through the 2015 and 2019 tournaments.
