New and spectacular. Three international swimmers, including one multiple Olympic champion, are taking the International Swimming Federation (FINA) to court. They filed an antitrust class action lawsuit in San Francisco, United States.
In question, FINA's decision to prohibit the holding at the end of December in Turin of a 4-day meeting organized by a competing organization, the International Swimming League (ISL). FINA put pressure on the Italian Swimming Federation, whose president, Paolo Barelli, was nevertheless in favor of this new competition, where the prize money should be higher than that paid in meetings on the traditional circuit.
As a bonus, FINA threatened swimmers who decide to line up at the Turin meeting with a suspension of up to 2 years. The event was removed from the calendar. End of the story ? Surely not.
Three swimmers decided to take legal action. The Hungarian Katinka Hosszu, triple Olympic gold medalist at the Rio 2016 Games (100m backstroke, 200 and 400m medley), the Americans Tom Shields and Michael Andrew, both world champions, are attacking FINA.
« We are closer than ever to achieving our dream, but this dream is blocked by FINA,” explains Tom Shields in a press release. “ Few swimmers make a living from swimming when FINA uses it to enrich itself, suggests Michael Andrew. FINA’s core priorities are not the athletes. FINA revives the dark days of our sport by blocking the ISL request"
Hungarian Katinka Hosszu insists: “ My passion has always been to push swimming in the direction that allows swimmers to be partners with the governing body, not its puppets. The ISL takes swimmers seriously, unlike FINA. »
At the same time, the International Swimming League is not sitting idle. Forced to cancel its meeting in Turin, it in turn decided to take FINA to court for anti-competitive behavior. Its general manager, Ali Khan, explains in a press release: “ Governing bodies and commercial companies coexist in other sports and even manage to work together to improve it. But FINA’s priorities are simply not aligned with those of swimmers, and because of this, swimming has failed to evolve with the times. The ISL deserves a chance to offer swimmers more opportunities to compete and make a living from their sport, not the whims of FINA. »
In this war of press releases, FINA released its own from the Chinese city of Hangzou, where the 25m pool world championships are taking place. It turns out to be very dry. He does not name the three complainants by name. “ FINA has taken note of the documents filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, explains the institution. As world and Olympic champions, the swimmers in question will understand better than most that FINA's attention is currently focused on the 950 swimmers, including two of the athletes in question, from the 180 member federations participating in the 14th championships. World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, where a financial prize of 2,07 million dollars will be distributed"
The international organization continues: “ FINA will nevertheless give full attention to the filings and provide a strong defense where appropriate. Meanwhile, in Hangzhou, the FINA Athletes' Commission will consult with swimmers to continue to ensure their voices are clearly heard within FINA's decision-making bodies. »
Case to follow.
