29 Jul 2011

World Rowing Rowing champs defended

6:58 am on 29 July 2011

The former chairman of the World Rowing championship organising committee says SPARC'S review of the November event's $2.2 million loss is wrong to say organisers lacked commercial discipline.

Bill Falconer says the regatta was well run and went to budget as far as costs were concerned, but ticket sales were about 20,000 below expectation.

And Falconer says the organisers were advised their attendance projections and ticket prices had factored in the impact global recession adequately but their advice was incorrect and so was their judgement.

He says not much could've been done differently and the question is whether countries as small as New Zealand can run world class events without greater central and local government support.