COST OF THE GAMES

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 48, 26 February 1938, Page 8

COST OF THE GAMES

£IO,OOO A DAY SPENT

TOTAL EXCEEDED £70,000

ALLOCATIONS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES It cost £IO,OOO a day to rtage the Empire Games in Sydney, and ' the total cost exceeded £70,000. Few of the big crowd which saw the Empire’s magnificent athletic pagear.t at the Sydney Cricket Ground, realised the tremendous costs involved in staging the Fourth Empiad, which lasted only seven days. The expense of bringing athletes from far corners of the Empire has been heavy. An official estimate of the total costs of the Games series :.:as been set down at £70,000. Australia allocated £15,000 to enable the Games to be conducted, while England and Canada contributed a similar amount. New Zealand’s expenditure has been calculated at £7500, South Africa’s costs totalled £7OOO, Scotland’s £2500, and Southern Rhodesia’s £ISOO. It was estimated that it cost £250 to send an athlete from England apart from expenditure on clothing and equipment. The New Zealand Association, however, was able to send athletes at the compartively small cost of £SO a man. Largest item in the £70,000 expenditure, an official explained, was the steamer passage costs of the 300 athlete visitors from overseas. South Africa’s calculations disclose a cost of £2OO for each member of its team, and Canada’s £l5O. By no means the smallest item in the Games bill was the laundering charges of each team.

Members of the Canadian contingent were each allowed 5s a week to cover laundry charges. Other teams did not attend to this matter personally, except Australia’s representatives, who were required to pay their owh laundry charges. There was not one athlete competing at the Games who received a pocket allowance, but small grants for specified purchases were provided. South Africans were allowed 3s each day for fruit to supplement their training diet. English competitors were allowed only Is a day for a similar purpose. Officials, trainers and chaperons, as well as athletes, were included in this budget. Teams which did not receive this allowance were provided with a daily supply of fruit. Australia’s huge contingent of competitors, however, were called upon to meet all incidental expenses, apart from housing, food and fares. In a few instances, Australians who could not secure accommodation at Empire Village were granted £3 a week for board and lodging. Meals at the Empire Village for the 475 athletes and teams’ officials were an important problem to the Games organisers, and the cost of this item has been high. Australians not accommodated at the “Village” required to pay 2s 6d for .each meal at the Games dining room.