Elite Sport in the Netherlands

• Elite sport policy and the climate for elite sport
• The cost of elite sport
• Challenges for the future
• Response of the State Secretary and Chairwoman of NOC*NSF

Don't change this page without warning PDC Careljan or Hessel, 070-3560238): there is a picture with a link to a video!!

To mark the retirement on 1 October 2008 of Pieter Zevenbergen from the Court of Audit's Board, we have audited the costs and benefits of the Netherlands' policy on elite sport.

Elite sport policy and the climate for elite sport

NOC*NSF (the Netherlands Olympic Committee*Netherlands Sports Federation) is responsible for the development of elite sport and the sports associations in the Netherlands. Within central government, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) has primary responsibility for elite sport. Central government introduced a specific policy on elite sport in 1994. Its ambition is to have the Netherlands rank among the top ten sporting nation in the world. Furthermore, the Netherlands is seeking to establish a climate for elite sport that will help it lodge a possible bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028.

Factors that can underpin a successful climate for elite sport include talent development, financial support, and the coaching and training opportunities for elite athletes. Our audit found that there was little wrong with the climate for elite sport in the Netherlands. Only the talent spotting system is still relatively underdeveloped.

Up

The cost of elite sport

Elite sport costs money. Each year, the sports associations spend about EUR 63 million on elite sport. The greater part comes from the associations themselves and the government, which contributes EUR 7.5 million on average. Lotto, the Dutch national lottery organisation, is also an important source of funding, providing EUR 10 million a year. Some EUR 2.5 million is spent on elite paralympic sports each year, with the government providing EUR 400,000 and Lotto EUR 1.2 million, nearly half the total. Lotto is therefore an important source of income for sport. But the total amount Lotto has provided to NOC*NSF has declined in recent years.

To give an impression of expenditure and income, we calculated the cost of winning a medal at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008. We considered only the funds that central government can influence directly. We did not consider private funding (from industry and donations). We looked at the average amounts contributed in the past Olympic cycle to the sports associations and athletes who nominated themselves for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

On average, Lotto and the government spent EUR 17.7 million a year for the Olympic Games. The Netherlands won 16 medals at the Beijing Summer Olympics. On average, therefore, each medal cost EUR 1.1 million a year. Over an Olympic cycle of four years, that is equal to EUR 4.4 million per medal. An average of EUR 1.8 million was provided for Paralympic athletes each year. The Netherlands won 22 medals at the Beijing Paralympic Games. The average annual cost to the government and Lotto of a Paralympic medal was therefore EUR 81,000 a year. In a Paralympic cycle of four years, that is equal to EUR 324,000 per medal.

Up

Challenges for the future

In view of the Netherlands' ambitions for elite sport, we have identified four challenges for the future:

1. Cooperation between the Ministry of VWS and NOC*NSF can be described as 'low key'. In view of the pronounced sporting ambitions, we think both partners should rise to the challenge of deepening their cooperation into a 'robust interplay'.

2. The Netherlands has high sporting ambitions. We wonder whether the public funds are commensurate, especially in view of the decline in funding from Lotto.

3. Internationally, organised sport is increasingly turning to industry for funding. In a growing number of countries, central government is playing an ever smaller role. In our opinion, the Ministry of VWS does not have a vision on the relationship between public and private funds. We recommend that it develop such a vision on account of its great social importance.

4. Is handicapped sport receiving sufficient funds to bridge the gap in elite sporting performance? Handicapped sport seems to be less attractive to industry and is therefore more dependent on Lotto.

Up

Response of the State Secretary and Chairwoman of NOC*NSF

The State Secretary for VWS, Jet Bussemaker, and the Chairwoman of NOC*NSF, Erica Terpstra, responded enthusiastically to our report. It would help them prepare the Olympic Plan for 2028, they thought. Ms Bussemaker found that the report supported her policies. Ms Terpstra concluded from it that the Netherlands took elite sport and its funding seriously.

Up