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Big Money Seems like our athletes are left without a motivation to win for the sake of their country.
At Vancouver Winter Olympics Russia has set a new world record of senseless investments in big sports. The costs of stimulating Russian Olympic athletes were unprecedented. After Vancouver any of our champions could in theory replenish his or her bank account with at least half a million dollars. However, this waste of money had the opposite effect: our national team miserably failed at the Olympics. This fact once more demonstrated that big money doesn't guarantee victory in big sports.
Favorites of State support
The official State Prize for an Olympic Golden Medal has been 100 euro for the last four years. This is the highest bonus for top national teams of the world and the highest cash award in the history of our sports. Compare it to 1988 Olympics in Seoul when Soviet champions were awarded one tenth of that sum but were much more successful by winning a total of 132 medals (55 golden, 31 silver, 46 bronze). Such sort of paradox gave rise to suspicions that the entire system of our athletes' and coaches' material stimulation is a wreck. People started to think that Russian mentality would always make our athletes loose to an equally strong foreigner, if the only reward they got would be cash bonuses and nothing else.
The president of the All-Russian Federation for Track and Field Athletics, Valentin Balakhnichev disagrees with such categorical conclusions but admits that the scheme of labor reward was twisted lately. “Let's admit that we have done nothing for the training of a generation that had now come into the sports of higher achievements” - the functionary expresses his grief. “We should have better instructed them in early days about the primacy of patriotism over finances. In the West there is no such thing as a direct reward for an athlete from the state. The main reward there is the opportunity to earn money from advertisements, personal sponsors or the participation in higher rank competitions. However, in Russia we have this obsession with money.”
The main incentive
At the early beginnings of modern sports at the turn of the 20th century money mattered nothing for the athletes. It is hard to believe now that the main reason for people to come out to playgrounds or tracks was to take better care for their health. In later days it would become patriotic to defend the honor of the national flag, which is still widespread to this day. “Anyhow, an athlete's appearance at the Olympics is the highest point in sports career,” - says the president of Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov. “It's the main stimulus in modern sports”. The situation had changed since then. The ideals of amateur sports are hopelessly cast down by professionals. Patriotism itself is becoming a variable. Hundreds of athletes worldwide are migrating from one national team to another every year in search of a better portion. Higher earnings had become almost the main criteria of success, which would be impossible without serious investments in training. It is fortunate that competitions have not become predominantly contested by big bucks. Unpredictability remains the guarantee of sport's popularity and financial interest remains a stimulus for the athletes but not the only one.
Fat Cats effect
Ambition, not money is the driving force for a great number of sports stars. Sports remains one of the few areas of our life where one can officially become the best in his profession on a global scale (country or region). This is of great value. Besides, victories and even appearances at the stadium can bring fame and raise an athlete's social status. It doesn't always translate in big bucks for in modern sports a lot depends on agents and managers. But the mere opportunity to become famous, even in narrow circles, attracts millions of people to stadiums and playgrounds.
Huge earnings do not stimulate athletes in such circumstances but, on the contrary, eliminate the aspiration for professional growth. We see examples of such overfed cats corrupted by fast bucks in football, where modern days' sponsors whirlwind fantastic sums of money. Sportsmen are literally bathing in money since they are young and naturally loose any ambition whatsoever. “The entire system of payment in football stimulates neither players nor coaches to seek perfection but on the contrary corrupts them,” - such is the opinion of the adviser to the mayor of Moscow in sports, Shamil Tarpischev.
“Money made them loose their heads,” - says ex-president of Spartak football club, Andrei Chervichenko. Our national team is predominantly comprised of “overfed fat cats”, whose imposing stances do not allow them to run extra meters. Crazy salaries, which most of the Russian players do not deserve, simply corrupt them. The youth doesn't care to go anywhere. Where do you see our 2006 champions of Europe in the age of 17 years? Today you will practically find not one of that team in the championship of Russia”.
 Once-in-four-years salary
Overrated awards are encountered not only in football or hockey. The representatives of the least budget-funded sports used to complain saying that they have a once-in-four years salary, that Olympic medals are almost the only source of income for them. However, lately this situation was radically changed. No more prizes for victorious appearances at competitions. For example, top level figure-skaters at Gran Prix are still earning ridiculous money: no more than fifteen thousands dollars a year. However, in most sports victory bonuses ceased to be the main source of income for athletes.
All the athletes in the Russian national teams get a regular monthly grant – 15 000 rubles ($500). This money is not given out randomly but only to those who had “achieved certain high results in their disciplines”. However, this ambiguous phrasing can hardly strip a top-level athlete of his salary. Besides, sportsmen often also get paid in their clubs. For example, in CSKA this sum is about 15 000 rubles not including long-service increment etc. Some clubs and federations also have a system of bonuses for successful performance at international tournaments. Sometimes the federations pay additional percentage of advertisement contracts with the manufacturers of sports equipping. Such bonuses can reach a total of one million rubles a year. Local authorities also contribute their share. For example, members of the national teams who live in Novgorod province and have a chance to make it to the Olympics are paid a monthly grant of 30 000 rubles. Some of the athletes are representing two regions at once and thus double their income. Local authorities often assist the champions in solving their housing issues. One more point to mention: most of the year the athletes are at training camps and competitions. During that time the national federation or the Ministry of sports fully provides them with equipping, food, medical care and free transportation.
Consumer psychology
Fortunate circumstances can allow an athlete to earn as much as 200 000 rubles per month. These calculations are approximate and only take into account the athletes found in the top hundred of world rating in their respective sports. We might disagree as to whether 200 000 rubles is a large sum. We're talking about the most outstanding representatives of their professions worldwide. An athlete can maintain such level of income for no longer than 10-15 thousand years, or even less if we take the frequency of traumas into account. However, there is no doubt that Russian athletes get paid more frequently than “once in four years”. Many of our athletes who failed in Vancouver can proceed to Sochi without really tightening their belts.
The shift of financing focus to money instead of results could be the main cause behind the current crisis of Russian sports. However, we mustn't forget that athletes and coaches are human and shouldn't be left without means in anticipation of the main event. It's only a question of choosing schemes and sources of financing. They shouldn't allow athletes to develop consumerist psychology. For example, in France this problem was solved by banning payments to sports clubs from local budgets. In Sweden the state doesn't pay athletes any bonuses for medals, since it is considered that the state has already paid enough for their training. Another way is to look for other incentives rather than merely monetary for improving athletes' results. “There's more in sports than money and stardom. Proper training, athlete's potential and team spirit means a lot,” - says the ex-trainer of Russian national volleyball team, Genadii Shipulin. Prospects of professional growth become an important motivation besides the opportunity to become a hero and defend the honor of the country. Many athletes change their place of living and even nationality for the sake of more favorable conditions for training and the opportunity to train under the guidance of a high-class coach, like the figure-skater Yuko Kawaguchi had done when she moved from Japan to St. Petersburg.
However, her case is unique because currently we're behind the leading countries both in the level of training and the variety of training methods. Giving a lot of money to a star is much easier than investing in the construction of new sports complexes, nursing trainers and diving into the depths of sports psychology.
Nikolai Levin
Illustration by Anatolii Pustovit.
A word from the editors:
It's quite likely that some readers will find this article too critical, however, the phenomenon it discusses does exist and is well-known. The rest is author's opinion. We're ready to continue this conversation about training methods with any competent expert. Giving a lot of money to a star is much easier than investing in the construction of new sports complexes, nursing trainers and diving into the depths of sports psychology.
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