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Sport Nation
FIFA World Cup 2026 scheduleAthlete advocacy group demands immediate compensation after IOC President's anti-pay stance
Alex Chapman • June 9th, 2026 12:53 pm
Olympics opening ceremony, Paris 2024 | Photo: Photosport
A leading athletes advocacy group is calling for greater and immediate athlete compensation following comments made by the International Olympic Commitee boss.
Last month, IOC President Kirsty Coventry created a global storm after she told Sport Nation that she doesn’t “believe in paying athletes”.
Coventry, who’s Zimbabwe’s most-successful Olympian, put forward that the solidarity model is preferred, where Olympic revenue gets redistributed across the movement into scholarships and development programs rather than direct prize money or participation payments.
She also denied that athletes should be compensated for their name, image, likeness (NIL).
Her stance and comments caused a furore among those at their heart, with Olympians, world champions, and others expressing their frustration and disappointment towards the former IOC Athletes' Commission Chair.
Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, responded to the backlash a week after her interview with Sport Nation, stating via social media: “Some of you might have seen social media posts about an interview I gave during my visit to New Zealand when I had a conversation with a journalist about paying prize money to athletes. When I was asked about it on camera, I did not repeat the words prize money – my mistake, lesson learnt.
Why IOC president Kirsty Coventry doesn't believe in paying Olympians | Sport Nation
"Yes, I have always said that I don’t believe in paying athletes prize money at the Olympic Games, as this would benefit only a very small number of athletes. I do believe our role as the IOC is to find ways to directly support a large number of athletes on their journey to becoming Olympians, at the Olympics and as they transition into life after sport."
"As a former athlete, I am absolutely committed to finding more ways to directly support athletes on their journey.”
Global Athlete says it has “responded to calls from athletes around the world for fair compensation by developing an interim policy proposal of immediate and practical solutions for athlete compensation.”
In a detailed six-point document titled 'Interim Athlete Compensation Solutions', the organisation calls on the IOC to “modernize its approach to athlete compensation and align Olympic governance with the values of fairness, solidarity and transparency.”
The proposal presents measures which Global Athlete believes the IOC could implement immediately, including a $NZ43,000 ‘Olympic Participation Indemnity’ for every Olympic athlete, the creation of an ‘Olympic Athlete Revenue Sharing Fund’ which would be financed through an allocation of IOC revenue, and greater transparency regarding IOC expenditures, executive indemnities and athlete support spending.
The submission also calls for the liberalisation of athlete name, image and likeness (NIL) rights and Rule 40 – a by-law in the Olympic Charter stating that only approved sponsors may reference "Olympic-related terms".
Olympic champ Hunter Armstrong on the fallout from competing at Enhanced Games | Mornings w/Ric & Chappy
“The athletes are not asking for charity,” Global Athlete states, “They are asking for fair participation in the value they create.”
The body believes “the concern is justified” due to the IOC being what it claims is a “billion-dollar organisation” and that while athletes generate the commercial value of the Olympic Games through competition, storytelling, sponsorship appeal and global engagement, they receive less than 0.5 percent of IOC revenues directly.”
It continues: “while the long-term objective remains a collective bargaining agreement that includes fair revenue sharing and athlete representation, there are several immediate measures the IOC could adopt to provide meaningful financial support to athletes without creating a traditional employer-employee relationship.”
Among those who have spoken out against Coventry’s comments are Athens 100m gold medal sprinter Justin Gatlin, four-time Olympic gold-medal winning swimmer Ariarne Titmus, and long-jump world and Olympic champion Greg Rutherford of Great Britain.
Several New Zealand Olympians have expressed similar views, while American swimmer Hunter Armstrong, a 2020 Olympic gold medallist and former world record holder, described it to Sport Nation as “disheartening” just days after he competed as a clean athlete at the Enhanced Games.
