Innovations / sports ecosystem

Santo Domingo, March 17.- The Dominican Olympic Committee (COD) assured that the funds it administers for the country's participation in the Tokyo Olympic Games "have been distributed fairly and transparently." The entity said in a statement that the budget of 78 million pesos was prepared prior to the start of the pandemic last year and is divided into "very specific" sections in which the way in which the items will be distributed is detailed. "This assignment covers from the beginning of the preparations, including the qualification stage until the return from Tokyo, and these games were discussed directly by the previous presidency of the COD and the federations with the Ministry of Sports in the previous administration", the committee said. The information specifies that 40 million pesos will be distributed among the 25 federations that have been looking for places for the Olympic Games. The other 38 million pesos have been reserved for the organization and participation of the Dominican delegation in the Tokyo Games. This implies the purchase of air tickets, travel expenses, food, parade and competition clothing, medicines, internal transportation and other services, the entity added. In that order, he said that volleyball is among the group of federations that have been assigned the most resources. "We are aware that these resources are not enough for this sport, the same as for the rest of the disciplines, but it is what we have and we are distributing it fairly and impartially," the statement said. The Dominican Olympic Committee assured that it has always acted with total transparency and has made the best efforts so that each and every one of the federations and, consequently, the athletes receive the treatment they deserve. "We want to establish that the distribution of funds has been made by the COD, but those resources are delivered by the Ministry of Sports," the statement concludes. Last week, leaders of the Dominican Volleyball Federation publicly complained about the amount allocated to that entity by the COD for the preparations and competition of the women's team classified for the Olympic Games. Those leaders reported that the three million pesos that the COD has assigned them for these purposes "are insufficient" for the expenses incurred by the women's team, classified for Tokyo, and whose members are popularly known as the "Queens of the Caribbean. ».