Professional athletes who are financially struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic and suspension of competition can now register for a one-off welfare grant.
The welfare fund totals $500,000 and has been created to support athletes who have lost a substantial part of their income due to international competition being suspended, a working group was set up to create strict criteria for athletes to meet in order to be eligible for the grant. Athletes must meet the following criteria to be eligible:
Must be qualified (by meeting the entry standard) for selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Must have never had an anti-doping rule violation
Must be able to demonstrate a justifiable welfare need through significant loss of income in 2020 compared to 2019.
In order to ensure that those who need it most receive the grant the following athletes will be excluded from receiving the grant:
Those ranked in the Top 6 in their event in the World Athletics Rankings
Those who have finished in the Top 6 positions of any Gold Label Road Race in 2019
Those who have earned more than $6000 in prize money from the 2019 Diamond League
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said “the International Athletics Foundation has allocated a substantial sum to the fund, and we hope to raise more through private donations from friends of our sport, but it has become apparent that the resources must be focused on athletes who are likely to be competing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year and are now struggling to pay for basic necessities due to loss of income during the pandemic.”
You can read the World Athletics statement here.
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